Food Archives - GlobalMedic

British Columbia Flooding 2021

Severe rainfall on November 13th, 14th and 15th caused mudslides and debris flow, resulting in the closure of many highways and roads in British Columbia’s interior and southern regions. The rainfall has broken dozens of all-time rainfall records, with some communities seeing nearly a month’s worth of rain over a 48 hour period. Entire regions of the Fraser Valley have been swamped by floodwater. Evacuation orders were issued for many communities including Merritt, Princeton and Abbotsford. As of November 17th, the province declared a state of emergency stating that the storm was the worst weather to hit the area “in a century“. Nearly 20,000 people have had to evacuate their homes and communities are facing intense shortages of basic items as stores are unable to restock due to disruptions in the supply chain.

RECORD BREAKING RAINFALL

NEARLY 20,000 PEOPLE DISPLACED

ROADS OUT ACROSS THE PROVINCE

GlobalMedic has been mobilizing to support residents affected by the flooding. As the evacuation orders are being lifted, residents are moving back into affected communities and will need assistance during this early recovery phase. Supply chains continue to be disrupted and we are focused on providing material aid to support households while they start to clean up and move forward from this disaster.

We activated GlobalMedic volunteers on the ground in BC to prepare to begin our response. At the same time, volunteers in Ontario worked to put together our first shipments of aid. We put together 407 Clean Up Kits which contain items like disinfectant, all purpose cleaners, garbage bags, rubber gloves and laundry supplies. The products for these kits are provided by our partners at Procter & Gamble. These kits were flown from Toronto to Vancouver by Air Canada and were received by volunteers. 214 kits were picked up and driven to Abbotsford where they are being distributed to residents beginning the clean up process in their homes. The remaining kits are being stored at an air hanger in Langley where they will be taken out to communities on boats and small aircraft. As we continued to phase up our response, we sent an additional 972 kits.

In addition, we also put together hygiene kits and food hampers to provide to affected households. The hygiene kits contain items like shampoo, toothpaste and toothbrushes. The food hampers are comprised of non-perishable goods to help prevent at risk households from slipping into food insecurity. We have distributed 470 hygiene kits and 1,000 food hampers so far.

We have also activated a laundry program. Starting in Abbotsford and Kamloops, we are offering free wash and fold services to residents who have been displaced or who need that support upon moving back to their homes.

As the initial flood emergency resolves and people affected begin to return to their communities, homes and businesses, it will be crucial to ensure they are supported through the recovery phase. GlobalMedic is responding and will continue to look for gaps to make sure we are reaching those who are most vulnerable.

COVID-19 Response

GlobalMedic is responding to needs created by the COVID-19 pandemic both internationally and here in Canada. We believe in order to control this virus, it is extremely important for all agencies (public and private) to work together to ensure the health and safety of the public, and we are doing our part in this ever-changing situation.

We are carrying out a series of programs designed to assist institutions and people affected by the COVID-19 outbreak.

Critical Infrastructure Program

The healthcare system in Ontario has been inundated with people affected by COVID-19. We have offered hospitals critical infrastructure tents that they can use for patient triage, dedicated testing spaces, or any other need that arises.

Many food banks have been forced to close their doors to patrons to help reduce the spread of the virus. However the need for services food banks provide has not diminished. We have offered our tents to local food banks in an effort to reduce the number of people in buildings and provide a dedicated area for people to access much needed resources.

We have also been setting up temporary tenting in partnership with Toronto Community Housing to run flu shot clinics as well as pop-up COVID-19 testing sites. We helped facilitate vaccinations for 6,260 TCHC residents. We have set up tenting that is being used for COVID-19 vaccination clinics in hotspot areas of the city. To date, we have participated in 295 vaccination events helping 229,381 people receive their COVID-19 vaccine.

Aerial view of military tent set up in a parking lot — Critical Infrastructure tenting set up at Daily Bread Food Bank

Tent set up as COVID-19 vaccination clinic — Tent set up at CCRIHC as COVID-19 vaccination clinic

Impact: We have set up critical infrastructure tents at Daily Bread Food Bank, North York Harvest Food Bank, Brampton Civic Hospital, Etobicoke General Hospital, the House of Friendship and the Canadian Centre for Refugee and Immigrant Health Care

Hygiene and Family Kit Distribution

GlobalMedic has a longstanding partnership with Procter & Gamble. Our volunteers construct hygiene kits using P&G products and distribute them to food banks, shelters, and similar institutions across Canada. Each kit contains full size hygiene items like shampoo, deodorant and toothpaste. We have ramped up our production to ensure the most vulnerable continue to have access to these essential needs in this uncertain time.

Bars of soap from Clean the World are also being given out to similar institutions to ensure everyone is able to properly wash their hands.

Similar to the hygiene kits, we have also been distributing family kits to food banks and shelters. These kits contain similar hygiene items, but also include cleaning supplies and laundry detergent and are designed to serve a family rather than an individual.

We are providing Thank You Kits to front-line workers in hospitals, senior services and long term care facilities across Canada. The kits include hygiene items for showering after work to help keep the workers safe and healthy. With these kits, we want to say thank you to the staff who are working incredibly hard to care for some of our most vulnerable community members.

In collaboration with local fire departments, we are handing out COVID Safety Kits containing soap and face masks. As the kits are handed out, fire fighters are also promoting the 3 P’s of COVID-19 safety.

people holding hygiene kits and standing in front of boxes — Hygiene Kits delivered to Women’s Centre of Calgary

A man and a woman standing in front of a car holding boxes of soap — GlobalMedic handing off bar soap to Street Health

Thank You Kits delivered to Grand River Hospital

Impact: We have provided 45,555 hygiene kits, 2,614 family kits, 1,082 clean up kits and 67,140 bars of soap to community organizations like Woodgreen Community Services, Street Health Toronto and Blue Door Shelter. We have also delivered 36,406 Thank You Kits to front-line workers and 16,030 COVID Safety Kits.

Emergency Food Distribution

Many food banks are facing food shortages, and seeing a huge increase in new clients due to the pandemic. We are responding by re-packaging staple foods purchased in bulk into 500g bags ready for use, and delivering them to local agencies that serve vulnerable clients. The staple foods include green peas, pearled barley, red lentils, rice, chickpeas, green lentils and kidney beans.

We are also working with Hand Up Toronto, to supply food to families who are newly food insecure and may not know how to engage with the food bank system through our Feed the Six hamper program. These hampers are delivered through contactless drop-offs or drive through pick ups in the Greater Toronto Area.

In addition, we have also been ordering food directly from the supplier and having it delivered to food banks. This cuts down on waiting time, and saves food banks the cost of buying the food themselves.

Rows of bags filled with green lentils — Green lentils packed for distribution

A man standing behind two pallets of dried foods — Bulk food delivery to Daily Bread Food Bank

Impact: We have provided over 492,700 kg of dried food staples, 24,000 cans of soup and 50,000 eggs to organizations including the Daily Bread Food Bank, North York Harvest Food Bank and Muslim Welfare Centre. We have distributed more than 26,900 food hampers containing items like dry goods, pasta and potatoes through our Feed the Six Kits, as well as 21,052 hampers through our partnerships with North York Harvest and IDRF, and produced 49,920 Emergency Food Boxes for Feed Ontario. We assisted Mississauga Food Bank with sorting their backlog of 78 food donation bins. Finally, we distributed $50,000 of grocery store gift cards.

Hand Sanitizer Program

With many local distilleries closed to the public, some have shifted their production method to begin producing hand sanitizer. The sanitizer has been approved by Health Canada and it ready to fill the gap in supply.

We have partnered with some of these local distilleries, including Willibald Farm Distillery, Last Straw Distillery and Murphy’s Law Distillery, and are providing buckets and distribution networks. Together, we are getting hand sanitizer to food banks, shelters, hospitals and other healthcare institutions all across Canada. We are also working to deliver hand sanitizer to First Nations communities in order to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in these vulnerable populations.

Finally, we have worked to acquire large supplies of hand sanitizer from traditional vendors to ensure we can keep supplying critical institutions and preventing the spread of COVID-19.

Two men filling buckets with hand sanitizer — Hand sanitizer production at Last Straw Distillery

Impact: We have distributed 86,103 L of sanitizer to healthcare institutions, First Nations communities, food banks, shelters and other support programs in Canada.

Cash Assistance Program

So many Canadians are struggling to make ends meet due to job losses as a direct result of COVID-19. We initiated a cash transfer program to help supplement the finances of families that have been affected. Participants were referred through partner food banks and children’s breakfast club programs, and were interviewed before receiving the transfer.

“Thank you for giving us the ability to buy groceries and pay rent”
Cash Transfer Recipient

Impact: 198 families have received $500 cash transfers.

Kits for First Nations Communities

Many First Nations Communities have been feeling the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. With their locations often remote, access to items like food, hygiene supplies, and personal protective equipment is difficult and costly.

GlobalMedic and Hydro One partnered to produce and distribute 13,520 kits for First Nations communities across Ontario. These kits included dried foods like rice, lentils, pasta and more, as well as soap, a solar light, and reusable masks.

The kits will support a family for several weeks, and provide them with important resources to keep them safe and healthy during the COVID-19 pandemic.

We also provided 250 kits for Shamattawa First Nation in Northern Manitoba who were struggling with a large outbreak in their community.

Personal Protective Equipment & Medical Supplies

GlobalMedic is also working to make sure Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) like face masks and face shields are available to vulnerable groups and front-line workers, both here in Canada and around the world.

In countries that may be struggling with ongoing humanitarian crises or that are simply seeing their systems overwhelmed from the pandemic, availability of PPE can be a concern.

We have distributed masks and face shields in countries including Antigua, the Bahamas, Canada, Cuba, Dominica, Grenada, Saint Kitts, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Saint Lucia, and Syria.

We are currently organizing shipments of PPE and medical supplies like pulse oximeters to India, Bangladesh and Pakistan as they struggle with a new wave of infections and overwhelmed hospitals.

Shipment of face masks heading to Saint Vincent and the Grenadines

Children wearing Face Shields in St Lucia — Children wearing face shields at school in Saint Lucia

Impact: We have distributed more than 841,800 face shields, 40,020,100 face masks, 467,400 hospital gowns, as well as 2,000 pulse oximeters.

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Please note that GlobalMedic is taking every precaution to protect its staff and volunteers during this outbreak, including enhanced hygiene practices, and ensuring physical distancing guidelines are followed.

World Food Day 2021

Morgan Clark – Emergency Programs Officer

World Food Day (WFD) 2021 is on October 16! World Food Day has been celebrated annually since 1981 to commemorate the founding of the United Nations (UN) Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and increase awareness of world hunger and poverty.

WFD is celebrated each year to inspire solutions for world change in the food and agriculture sector and to raise awareness of global food insecurity. WFD is especially important to GlobalMedic as a humanitarian organization that operates food-related programs in Canada and around the world.

About World Food Day 2021

World Food Day is one of the most celebrated days of the UN calendar, collectively observed across 150 countries, including Canada. Hundreds of events, outreach activities, and educational materials promote worldwide awareness and action for those experiencing hunger and food insecurity. World Food Day celebrations also highlight the need to ensure healthy diets for all. It’s a day when Governments, businesses, NGOs, the media, and the general public can come together in an effort to eradicate world hunger.

Who is the UN FAO?

The UN FAO is a specialized agency of the United Nations, founded in 1945, that leads international efforts to defeat hunger and improve nutrition and food security. The UN FAO’s Latin motto, fiat panis, translates to “let there be bread”. Their goal is to achieve food security for all and make sure that people have regular access to enough high-quality food to lead active, healthy lives.

Why care about food systems?

Every time you eat, you participate in global agri-food systems. From the food you choose at the store and the way food is produced, prepared, cooked, and stored, makes us all an integral and active part of how the system works.

The world’s agri-food systems currently employ 1 billion people worldwide, which is more than any other economic sector. Moreover, food production, consumption, and, sadly, waste, exacts a heavy toll on our planet. Over 30% of the world’s food is either lost due to inadequate harvesting, handling, storage, and transit or wasted at the consumer level. Such inefficiency is costing trillions of dollars, but, most importantly, today’s agri-food systems are exposing profound inequalities and injustices in our global society. The COVID-19 pandemic has only exacerbated these issues, making it even harder for farmers to sell their harvests, while rising poverty is pushing an increased number of city residents to use food banks, and millions of people require emergency food aid.

According to the UN FAO, more than 3 billion people (almost 40% of the world’s population) cannot afford a healthy diet, while obesity continues to increase worldwide.

What GlobalMedic is doing to combat food insecurity?

In keeping with our mandate to deliver the right aid to the right people at the right time, our approach to delivering food aid is both innovative and adaptable. We operate both domestic and international food programs, ensuring that the food we deliver is culturally appropriate and best fits the needs of our beneficiaries.

The goal of our international Emergency Food Program is simple – we want to do emergency food better. Accessing adequate and healthy food sources can be extremely difficult for families in conflict and disaster zones around the world, so to address these needs of nutritional support, GlobalMedic distributes Emergency Food Kits. The first iteration of these food kits provided families with an easy-to-make, ready-to-cook meal that is calorically dense and nutritious. Not only are these meals tasty and culturally appropriate, but they are also easy to prepare and have long shelf lives, so families on the move don’t have to worry about spoilage. We worked with local partners to provide these types of food kits to families in Syria, Indonesia, and Ukraine.

As we developed and improved our Emergency Food Program, looking for ways to make it more cost-effective and increasingly impactful, the Emergency Food Kits transitioned into a ‘pantry style’ food program. These kits contain a pantry of multiple culturally appropriate staple ingredients, such as rice, beans, lentils, and grits, to be assembled at the discretion of the beneficiary. This pantry solution provides families with more autonomy in their food preparation and allows us to provide more aid at a similar price point.

Over the past few years, GlobalMedic has supported families in Antigua & Barbuda, Haiti, Indonesia, Iraq, Nicaragua, Saint Vincent, and the Grenadines, Ukraine, Syria, Yemen, Lebanon, and the Bahamas through our Emergency Food Program. To learn more about our international food programs, click here.

McAntony’s Menu, a part of The Grassroots Revolution, is the domestic version of our food program. It was designed to complement and support the heavily utilized local food bank systems that serve the 1 in 8 families in Canada who are food insecure. This program is a unique way to think about and approach food donation. To keep our costs low and make the biggest impact possible, we leverage our existing supply chains to buy bulk bags of pantry staples like rice, green peas, red lentils, and chickpeas and then mobilize our dedicated volunteers to repack the food into 500g bags. These family-sized portions are then boxed up and delivered to food banks and other support programs across the country, for a third to a quarter of the retail price. As with our international beneficiaries, we also prioritize maintaining the dignity of our domestic beneficiaries through this program, and by removing our logo and name from the packaging, these products do not look like “charity food”.

Since its launch in 2020, we have delivered more than 1,432,000 lbs of food through our McAntony’s Menu program. To learn more about the program, click here.

Food Insecurity and COVID-19

Our extensive experience with implementing emergency food programs domestically and internationally allowed GlobalMedic to quickly expand our operations at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. In the past 18 months, we have handed out McAntony’s Menu pantry staples at various vaccination clinics, including The Canadian Centre for Refugee & Immigrant Health Care (CCRIHC), and packed over 13,000 food hampers for First Nations communities. In addition to our regular McAntony’s Menu program, we partnered with local food banks to deliver additional programs in response to the growing food insecurity fuelled by the pandemic. With the support of our dedicated volunteers, GlobalMedic has been assembling food hampers for North York Harvest and Feed Ontario and sorting food donation bins for Mississauga Food Bank. We have also partnered with Hand Up Toronto to run our Feed the Six Campaign, which provides vulnerable families in the GTA with food hampers. These hampers are also packed by GlobalMedic’s amazing volunteers and then distributed via contactless delivery by Hand Up Toronto volunteer drivers. Since the start of Feed the Six in the spring of 2020, GlobalMedic has packed and distributed over 23,000 of these food hampers around the GTA.

GlobalMedic’s international and domestic food programming is possible thanks to the ongoing support of our devoted volunteers and generous donors. In celebration of #WorldFoodDay2021, we invite you to join us in the fight against hunger! Make a donation to our Emergency Relief Fund here or learn more about opportunities to volunteer with us here.

Haiti Earthquake Response 2021

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On August 14, at 8:29 ET Haiti was hit by a 7.2 magnitude earthquake that caused widespread destruction in the Sud, Grand’Anse, Nippes, & Nord-Oues Departments. Only two days later, Tropical Depression Grace passed through the country, adding landslides and flooding to the initial damage. Hundreds of aftershocks continued throughout August and September, posing even more risks to an already vulnerable population. More than 60 health facilities were damaged across the most affected departments, and 171 school buildings were completely completely destroyed, representing roughly 16 per cent of all schools in these areas. At least 83,770 homes suffered varying degrees of damage and 53,815 were completely destroyed. An estimated 2,200 people were declared dead and 329 were missing following the disaster.

Haiti has been in an ongoing state of recovery since the 2010 earthquake recovery that has already been hindered by the COVID-19 pandemic and the recent assassination of the president.

There is an urgent need for fresh water as thousands of Haitians have been displaced and many homes have been left without electricity and water. This need is compounded by the elevated risks of waterborne diseases such as cholera as well as the potential spread of COVID. Food insecurity is also a critical issue – prior to the earthquake, an estimated 4 million people were already food-insecure and at risk of hunger in Haiti. The earthquake has increased the number of people experiencing food insecurity and worsened the conditions for those already food insecure.

800,000+ PEOPLE AFFECTED

650,000+ IN NEED OF HUMANITARIAN ASSISTANCE

100,000+ DAMAGED & DESTROYED HOMES

GlobalMedic sent prepositioned aid prior to the earthquake, including 1,600 of Family Emergency Kits, each with enough Procter & Gamble Purifier of Water Sachets to purify 2,400 litres of water. An additional 720 Family Emergency Kits were packed with Imerys Household Water Purification Units, a compact and easy-to-use system that provides families with access to clean drinking water. All of the Family Emergency Kits contained essential hygiene items such as soap, toothbrushes and toothpaste as well as solar lights. This prepositioning allowed our partner, World Vision, to immediately distribute a total of 2,320 Family Emergency Kits to families in need of fresh water.

Shortly after the earthquake, we deployed our Rapid Response Team to bring in 6 AquaResponse3 Water Purification Systems. The team collaborated with GlobalMedic’s local partners to ensure that the Water Purification Systems were put into use right away.

Volunteers in Canada assembled 400 Emergency Food Kits which were sent to Haiti by air. The kits contain dried staple foods, such as rice, pasta, green peas, corn meal, kidney beans and pigeon peas. Our local partners are in the process of distributing essential food items to families that need them most.

Following this initial response, we sent an additional 960 Emergency Food Kits, 6,433 Family Emergency Kits, 2,600,000 Aquatabs and 86,400 Oral Rehydration Salt sachets.

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Syrian Conflict Response

With the Syrian conflict entering its eleventh year, the devastation continues. Today, 13.4 million Syrians are in need of humanitarian assistance, many of whom have been forced to flee their homes. There are 6.7 million Internally Displaced People (IDPs) in Syria and 6.6 million refugees in other countries around the world. Almost all of these refugees are living in neighbouring countries like Turkey and Lebanon, placing an added strain on resources there. 12.4 million Syrians are unable to meet their food needs of which 1.3 million are severely food insecure. 36% of the population currently rely on often unsafe alternatives to piped water. In north-west Syria alone, 630,000 IDPs urgently need continued humanitarian WASH assistance.

The ongoing Syrian conflict continues to force families to flee their homes. Often leaving at a moment’s notice, these families are unable to pack important materials to support themselves as they move to safer areas. These mobile populations face serious health and safety risks and are in desperate need of humanitarian support.

500,000+ PEOPLE KILLED

13,400,000 NEED SUPPORT

6.7 MILLION IDPs

GlobalMedic has been sending aid to Syria since 2014 and will continue to do so as long as the need exists. Our Water, Food, Medical, and Shelter programs have all been activated for this response.

Our primary focus is ensuring that families have access to clean drinking water and food. We distribute Family Emergency Kits which contain a water purification solution and hygiene items, with additional items like oral rehydration salts, Lucky Iron Fish, whistles and solar lights may also be added.

We also distribute our Emergency Food Kits which have been designed specifically for our Syrian response and are a culturally appropriate and nutritious solution for families.

371,000+ PEOPLE REACHED

A Child walking beside two women toward a group of tents carrying Family Emergency Kits

OVER 51,500 FAMILY EMERGENCY KITS

52,000+ HYGIENE ITEMS

MORE THAN 869,400 MEALS AND 12,100 PANTRY KITS

MORE THAN 6.8 MILLION MEDICAL SUPPLIES

Standing in front of a tent a young girl holds a baby

Hurricane Dorian: One Year Later, Where Are We Now?

Rameesha Qazi – Communications Intern

On September 4^th 2019, what started as a large tropical storm had grown into a historic and monstrous Category 5 Hurricane, named Dorian, made land contact, flattening large areas of the Bahamas and impacted communities as far north as Nova Scotia.

While it has been a year, and most of the world has moved on and forgotten, recovery efforts are ongoing. At the six month mark, in March 2020, recovery efforts were just as strong as they had been on Day 1 and things were slowly improving – especially with tourism picking up slowly, given that is the main stimulant for the local economy. But then COVID-19 hit and tourism was shut down again, and things took a turn for the worse like they did around the world. The only difference here is that they are still trying to recover from the extensive damage caused by Hurricane Dorian and manage the effects of the global pandemic at the same time.

The damages in the Bahamas is estimated at $3.4 billion. The storm damaged infrastructure and caused massive flooding on the islands of Abaco and Grand Bahama. 43 people were killed and over 76,000 people were affected by the storm. With the damage so extensive, people in the Bahamas were in immediate need of clean water, food and shelter items. GlobalMedic was swift to respond.

Safe water is needed for everything, from drinking to cooking, bathing to healthcare. To address the fact that water was no longer safe to use following storm surges, GlobalMedic immediately deployed our Rapid Response Team with water purification units and the RescUAV Team with drones to provide on the ground assistance. We were able to distribute the following aid to communities in Grand Bahama, Abaco and Nassau:

6 large-scale water purification systems
4,700+ Family Emergency Kits which contain a household water purification solution, essential hygiene items, oral rehydration salts and solar lights.
7 large tents that are being used for clinics, storage, animal shelters, and child friendly spaces
300 kg dog food
Assorted building materials and tools, cooking items, air mattresses
Assisted with installation of solar panel in Sweetings Cay to power an AquaBoy Pro II water system
Our RescUAV team has mapped over 4,500 hectares and taken 44,000 pictures in Grand Bahama and over 1,000 hectares and 8,900 images in Abaco which were shared with local officials to help them better assess damage

We also had three main projects on the ground, the first is the Mold Remediation Project. Many houses were filled with water, damaging the drywall and structure of the house, allowing dangerous mold to grow. GlobalMedic supported the creation of the “Mold Busters” consortium, bringing together local entities to streamline the rebuilding process and create jobs. Through this program GlobalMedic was able to fully remediate 180 homes and create more than 45 jobs in our initial program period. This project is still ongoing as the damage was extensive and people still need safe places to live. We are continuing to remediate additional houses in order to get families back in their homes and back to normal life.

The second is the Fishing Boats Project. Fishing is a primary career for many Bahamians and is often the only source of income for families in the eastern region of the island. With the destruction of infrastructure on the island so severe, many could not afford to repair the boats as well as their homes. GlobalMedic hired a local contractor to provide boat repair for these fishermen. We provided all the fibreglass and additional materials through a partnership with Composites Canada. A Composites Canada staff member was also sent to Grand Bahama to fully train the local contractor on the use of the materials sent. GlobalMedic fully repaired the hulls of 37 boats and 5 jobs were created during the first program period. This project is also still ongoing as we are working to ensure that the local economy is able to continue to thrive as it did before Dorian hit. Local fishermen are still able to bring their boats to be repaired through this program and, with our partners at the Rotary Club of Grand Bahama, we are working to get new engines to these fishermen as well.

The third is the Emergency Food Project. GlobalMedic initially delivered over 6,600+ Emergency Food Kits filled with staple ingredients for displaced people in the Bahamas. Packing sites were set up locally, being supported by the ones in Canada, and in the first two months packing was happening 7 days a week. People who needed aid were coming out to help as well, grandmothers who were taking care of small kids would come out to pack while the kids stayed on site to help clean up and provide additional support. As Bahamians continue to deal with the effects of Hurricane Dorian as well as the COVID-19 pandemic, we have recently continued our support through this program, sending an additional 2,600 Emergency Food Kits.

GlobalMedic is proud to be able to support these efforts and strive to continue to do more, while keeping an eye on the current hurricane season that we find ourselves in.

Lebanon: Beirut Explosion Response 2020

On Tuesday, August 4th at 6:07pm, a large explosion erupted in Beirut, the capital city of Lebanon. The explosion took place in the country’s main port, located in the highly populated central district. The cause of the explosion has been linked to 2,750 tons of ammonium nitrate, a highly explosive material, which was being stored in a warehouse in the city’s port. The explosion’s blast shattered glass throughout the city resulting in damage to buildings as far as 10 km away. As a result of the explosion, there was an estimated 3 to 5 billion US dollars in damage. In addition, the blast severely damaged grain silos, which housed much of the country’s grain supplies. With more than 100 people killed and 6,000 injured from the blast, the city of Beirut declared a two-week state of emergency.

100+ PEOPLE KILLED

300,000 PEOPLE DISPLACED

6,000 PEOPLE INJURED

The effects of the explosion were felt throughout the city, with more than 300,000 people displaced from their homes. Four of the city’s hospitals were severely damaged and therefore unable to provide assistance. The remaining hospitals were overwhelmed by the influx of injured people as well as the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. This explosion also took place during the worst financial crisis in the country’s history. Since the country’s main point of entry for imports was destroyed and extensive infrastructure damaged throughout Beirut, people were in need of immediate assistance. GlobalMedic responded.

Our Response

We packed Family Emergency Kits and Emergency Food Kits to distribute to families affected by the explosion in Beirut. The Family Emergency Kits included a water purification system, basic hygiene items, and a solar light. The water purification system was vital because many families lost their homes and access to clean drinking water. The hygiene items are included to help families regain a sense of normalcy as well as prevent the spread of COVID-19. The solar lights provided much needed light and security since many were without electricity. The Emergency Food Kits provided families with culturally appropriate dried food items. An immediate response was crucial in order to reach individuals and families dealing with the devastating effects of the explosion.

We distributed more than 8,300 Emergency Food Kits and 2,900 Family Emergency Kits during this response. We worked with our local partners to ensure the aid reached those who needed it most.

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Feed the Six Campaign

The COVID-19 pandemic has contributed to a dramatic increase in food insecurity across the Greater Toronto Area. In response, GlobalMedic has partnered with Hand Up Toronto to help “Feed The Six” with nutritious food packages that can help feed thousands of families in need. The response to the program has been overwhelming, with over 21,000 families already signed up to a growing list.

Feed the Six has already distributed over 24,000 kg of food to families in need across the city, reaching about 1,000 families every weekend through contactless delivery. The innovative program is extremely cost effective, with food being purchased in bulk and re-packaged by volunteers into family sized portions.

Humber College has provided the space for volunteers to package these staple foods like rice and legumes. The food packages also contain vegetables and other produce provided by Second Harvest Food Rescue. Volunteer drivers provide contactless delivery to families who are isolated or cannot access a food bank. These packages are delivered to families via pick-up points established by Hand Up Toronto.

Thanks to the support of our corporate partners, the tireless work of our staff and volunteers, and the efficient design of this response program, it is only costing $50 to feed 10 families in need for up to two weeks!

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What is the Toronto Recipe Challenge?

Our Emergency Food Kits are already nutritious, but we’re looking for help to make them delicious.

We are challenging people to create a recipe using one or more of the main ingredients from the food kits (green and red lentils, chickpeas, pearl barley, kidney beans, green peas, and rice) along with simple household seasonings and a maximum of 3 additional ingredients.

This will not only bring awareness to our campaign, but also joy to these families in need – as we will be including many of these recipes in the food kits being distributed.

Want to help Spread Awareness?

Step 1: Follow GlobalMedic (@globalmedicdmgf) on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter
Step 2: Share a post with your recipe and tag #TORecipeChallenge #FeedTheSix @GlobalMedicdmgf @HandUpToronto

Feed the Six Campaign

Feed the Six – Gord Martineau Appeal

A pair of hands holds a measuring cup filled with lentils — Packing Food Kits

Picture of assorted food for Feed the Six food kits — Packing Food Kits

Grassroots Revolution

The Grassroots Revolution is comprised of two programs, The Soap Revolution and McAntony’s Menu. It encompasses all of GlobalMedic’s innovative methodology and focuses on leveraging volunteer labour and raising awareness through active volunteer participation. Overall, we can fill gaps in systems that already exist in order to reach the greatest number of people.

GlobalMedic has run a number of responses in Canada including responding to wildfires in Fort McMurray in 2016, British Columbia in 2017 and Alberta in 2019, and supporting many Syrian refugees as they arrived in 2016. Most consistently, we support local shelters and health clinics with the distribution of hygiene items and over-the-counter medicines. After evaluating the existing mechanisms we use to fill gaps in the humanitarian sector internationally, we identified areas where we could use these mechanisms domestically.

The Soap Revolution

We include basic hygiene items in our Family Emergency Kits because we know they help keep people healthy. After a disaster, proper hygiene can prevent the spread of deadly illnesses like cholera. This is an issue we see internationally, but even in Canada many basic hygiene items are inaccessible to low-income families. We designed The Soap Revolution to help tackle this problem.

The Needs

In Canada, and particularly the Greater Toronto Area, many low-income families are accessing food banks and shelters to meet their basic needs.

People often prioritize food, water and other critical items, and often forget or simply cannot afford hygiene items. Keeping up with basic hygiene practices is essential for staying healthy. Something as simple as frequent hand washing can help prevent the spread of illnesses in Canada’s low income communities.

The Soap Revolution boxes each containing 6 bars of soap.

An open cardboard box showing 6 bars of soap inside

Our Solution

Our goal with this program is to create easier access to one of the most basic hygiene items – soap. By increasing access we can help lower the number of cases of easily preventable illnesses in low income communities. We can also alleviate the burden of having to choose critical items like food over hygiene items.

The soap we use in this program is 100% recycled hotel soap from Clean the World. The soap is melted down, sanitized, and then reformed into new bars. Our volunteers package the soap into ‘family packs’ of 6 bars. These packs are then distributed through our existing food bank and shelter partners.

We can distribute bars of soap for a fraction of their retail price through the use of volunteers and partnering with Clean the World.

McAntony’s Menu

In the summer of 2018, we started developing GlobalMedic’s Emergency Food Program. The entire premise of our Food Program is that it is adaptable and must be changed to best fit the needs of the people we are looking to reach. McAntony’s Menu is the domestic arm of this program.

The Needs

1 in 8 households or nearly 4 million Canadians across the country are food insecure. In Toronto, this number is even higher with 1 in 5 households experiencing food insecurity. The effect of food insecurity is immense, causing increased risk of poor mental and physical health. Food insecure households can have healthcare costs up to 121% higher compared to those who are food secure. Families often have to make the decision to skip meals in order to pay for rent, phone bills and transportation.

Food packaging for green lentils, red lentils, barley, rice, green peas, chickpeas and kidney beans

hands holding a 500g bag of packed green lentils in a McAntony's Menu bag

Our Solution

This program mobilizes volunteers and our existing supply chains in order to create 500g bags of pantry staples like rice, lentils and kidney beans. Volunteers fill these individual bags with food from large 50 lb bags. These bags are boxed up and then delivered to food banks and other support programs to support their clients. Donating food in this way allows us to give a 500g bag of food to a family for a third to a quarter of the retail price. Because we make bulk orders of products in large sizes, we make the most of our buying power. Utilizing volunteers allows the cost of creating this product to remain so low.

Another key aspect to this program is the look of the finished product. We wanted the design for the food packaging donated through the McAntony’s Menu program to look similar to other products you would see in a retail environment. People who are accessing food banks deserve the dignity of choosing from items that are not obviously “charity food”. Therefore, the design does not feature the GlobalMedic name or logo.

McAntony’s Menu is not meant to compete with existing food support services but rather to complement a heavily utilized system. The program is a unique way to think about and approach food donation.

Our Impact

We launched The Grassroots Revolution at the beginning of 2020 and since then have been working to get out as much aid through this program as possible. Much of our impact at the beginning of the program was in response to the outbreak of COVID-19. Through The Grassroots Revolution we have delivered:

714761

KG OF FOOD

291518

Tag: Food

British Columbia Flooding 2021

COVID-19 Response

Critical Infrastructure Program

Hygiene and Family Kit Distribution

Emergency Food Distribution

Hand Sanitizer Program

Cash Assistance Program

Kits for First Nations Communities

Personal Protective Equipment & Medical Supplies

World Food Day 2021

Morgan Clark – Emergency Programs Officer

About World Food Day 2021

Who is the UN FAO?

Why care about food systems?

What GlobalMedic is doing to combat food insecurity?

Food Insecurity and COVID-19

Haiti Earthquake Response 2021

Syrian Conflict Response

Hurricane Dorian: One Year Later, Where Are We Now?

Rameesha Qazi – Communications Intern

Lebanon: Beirut Explosion Response 2020

Our Response

Feed the Six Campaign

What is the Toronto Recipe Challenge?

Want to help Spread Awareness?

Grassroots Revolution

The Soap Revolution

The Needs

Our Solution

McAntony’s Menu

The Needs

Our Solution

Our Impact

KG OF FOOD

BARS OF SOAP