TORONTO — Karen Fenwick and Debbie Wasserman, co-chairs of the National Council of Jewish Women of Canada, Toronto section’s 26th annual Passover food drive, are facing a dilemma.
Karen Fenwick, left, and Debbie Wasserman
They have more names on their list of recipients than last year, and their monetary donations are down.
They accept referrals from agencies, synagogues, schools, service groups and chaplaincy services, and the list includes people who are living in poverty, people with disabilities and inadequate financial resources, and recent immigrants in need.
Each food box contains many of the essentials needed for the seder and the week of Passover, including matzah and matzah meal, as well as Passover wine or grape juice, candles, soup and a side dish, gefilte fish and canned fruit.
“People are afraid to donate money, because they’re worried about the economic situation, and food donations are down because they’re shopping less. They don’t know what’s coming,” Wasserman said.
The pair, along with their committee, buys 90 per cent of the food that gets delivered to recipients, and although they are able to purchase food at wholesale prices, their costs have risen 35 per cent over last year, because food prices are higher, Fenwick said.
“We’ve had to give agencies a quota on the number of recipients on their list. Our project runs on donations -– what we get is what we spend,” she said. “If we don’t get enough, we’ll have to reduce the content of the boxes. We’ll have to decide what people need the most.”
On a positive note, people from outside the community are stepping up to help.
“A non-Jewish woman from Muskoka read about our organization in a newspaper and called us with a donation,” Wasserman said.
“And a school in Scarborough that runs a food program for the hungry is collecting money for the drive. One of our mandates is to teach people about poverty, so we’re [happy] to see that we’ve reached beyond our community.”
Fenwick and Wasserman are also pleased with the number of volunteers who have come forward.
“We have one volunteer who has been a recipient of the drive, and one former volunteer who is now a social work student and wanted to work one of her placements with us,” Fenwick said.
She said Rabbi Yossi Sapirman of Beth Torah Congregation brings a busload of students on delivery day – which this year is March 29 – “and they load the bus with boxes to be delivered by the students.”
Volunteers willing to deliver boxes for one hour on delivery day – each car should have a driver and a helper – can show up at Council House, 4700 Bathurst St. at 8:30 a.m. Dollies and carts are helpful to bring. For information, call 416-633-5100.
