TORONTO — Talia Wolfe, 12, is spreading the love this winter by making sandwiches for victims of homelessness and hunger.
Talia Wolfe holds up a sign at one of the sandwich stations at her first Spread the Love event. Spread the Love is a charitable initiative that encourages groups to feed the hungry.
On Nov. 29, Wolfe organized Toronto’s first Spread the Love project at Fieldstone Day School, where she is a Grade 6 student. Her second event will take place during a family brunch after her bat mitzvah on Jan. 23.
Spread the Love is a charitable initiative that encourages groups to feed the hungry. It offers relief to front-line organizations and provides leadership opportunities to youth. To date, volunteers across Canada have made more than 55,000 sandwiches for people struggling to find a meal.
Wolfe said she donated the sandwiches made at her event to Youth Without Shelter and the North York Women’s Shelter. “It seems almost strange that hunger could be a problem in Canada, but unfortunately it is a sad reality.
“The youth shelter is for people ages 16 to 24. They’re going to school or to job interviews so they can improve their lives. They need food to carry on during the day,” she said.
In addition to sandwiches, Wolfe decided to include an apple, juice box and cookies in each lunch bag. “I remember, the shelter sent me a video that said each person there only has a dollar a day for meals, and that’s not enough. They’re teenagers, so they’re going to be hungry.”
To prepare for her events, Wolfe wrote donation letters to food suppliers asking for support. She said she thanks Costco, Loblaws and caterer Sonny Langer for their help.
Items in need include ingredients such as bread, cheese and meats, as well as cutlery, paper bags and plastic gloves. She estimated that about 150 to 200 sandwiches would be made on each date, ranging from egg to tuna to turkey.
“The kids in my class were pretty excited to help with the sandwiches, partially because we got to miss class and partially because they like to help,” she said about her first event.
“Even the teachers came to help because they thought it looked like fun and wanted to be a part of such an important cause.”
Since the students at her school are required to wear uniforms, Wolfe helped arrange a “paid grub day,” which meant that students who wanted to wear other clothing had to contribute $2 to the cause. “We raised $188.24 just from that. It was lots of fun, she said, “and I’m looking forward to doing it again [prepare lunches] with my family in January.”
Wolfe said she first heard about Spread the Love through her cousin, who is a student at McGill University. He and his friends organized their own event in Montreal after learning about the initiative that originated in Calgary.
Wolfe said that helping others is in her blood, as her family members are very charitable. “Lots of people don’t have the things I take for granted. All people should have food and water and clothing. I want to raise money so that I can give the necessities to the less fortunate.”
While many teenagers who celebrate bar and bat mitzvahs give portions of their monetary gifts to charities, Wolfe said she wanted to go one step further. Since she has always loved cooking and feeding people, making sandwiches for shelters seemed like the perfect mitzvah.
Prior to becoming involved with Spread the Love, Wolfe said she devoted herself to different causes. Last summer, she held a bake sale to raise money to sponsor a child in Africa. The two-year-old girl she sponsored lives with her family in a tiny mud house and her parents cannot read or write. “Now she’s gotten all of her medical treatments and has money to go to school when she gets older. That is amazing.”
After making sandwiches at her school and bringing them to the shelters, Wolfe said it was rewarding “to meet some of the staff and people who live there and understand how and why these shelters are so important to so many young people.”
