Food Banks Mississauga has wrapped its 2026 Thanksgiving Drive with $857,029 raised by the community, just short of the goal of $900,000 and the most ever raised for this campaign. The campaign, sponsored by Keurig Dr Pepper Canada, closes as the organization reports experiencing over half a million visits for the second year in a row. Though it is the most funds raised in their annual Thanksgiving campaign, the growth in need year-over-year continues to outpace funds raised.
Across the hours Food Banks Mississauga’s citywide network of 60+ food programs is open, someone walks into a food bank in Mississauga every 22 seconds. With the funds raised during the Thanksgiving Drive, Food Banks Mississauga can ensure the shelves of those 60+ food programs stay stocked with fresh and shelf-stable food. This means that wherever someone lives in the city, there is a food program near them, and Food Banks Mississauga is the reason it has food on its shelves.
“People turn to food banks for all kinds of reasons: low wages, high rent, illness, disability, a job that ended. The circumstances vary, but the need is the same. In the face of record-high visits to our network food programs, we are grateful to the community for their generosity this Thanksgiving,” says Meghan Nicholls, CEO of Food Banks Mississauga.
“Because of our community’s support, we can continue to provide temporary relief for our neighbours experiencing food insecurity. Last year, over 43,000 neighbours in need made over 513,000 visits to our citywide network of food programs. This record number of food bank visits remains 650% higher than just 10 years ago and is now the “new normal”. Underfunded social assistance programs continue to not be prioritized by the provincial and federal governments, which are keeping our neighbours from making ends meet. While we advocate for long-term solutions, we can continue to keep the shelves of our network food programs stocked because of your generosity.”
To learn more, please read Food Banks Mississauga’s recently released Annual Impact Report.
The Thanksgiving Drive was proudly sponsored by Keurig Dr Pepper Canada.
