Photo courtesy of Dan and Merrilee Fraser.

By Billa Saleh

With generous donations from various communities across the city, One Burlington’s Share the Love food drive has been expanding quickly since its establishment in 2020.

This is one example of how the Burlington community comes together to support the Burlington Food Bank at a time of year (February) when donations tend to be lower. Summer is another such time. 

Dan and Merrilee Fraser accepted an invitation from One Burlington to host a food drive as a way to support the Burlington community. The couple has been running the Valentine’s Day-themed event on behalf of One Burlington and the Burlington Food Bank every February for the past three years. 

The food drive has grown every year, amassing $37,000 worth of food and monetary donations this year, a $13,000 increase over the previous year. 

The Frasers say they started growing the event by asking different faith groups to advertise within their congregations. The Halton Islamic Association, for example, has been a wonderful supporter, donating $1000 in gift cards each year of the food drive.

Dan Fraser contacted every grocery store in the city and asked them to donate what food and gift cards they could. This year, the food drive also reached out to Burlington public schools, who, the couple say, have been terrific in filling the food bins. 

Dan Fraser unloading the donations at the food bank. Photo courtesy of Merrilee and Dan Fraser.


Various businesses have also supported the food drive, such as Voortman Bakery, who has donated hundreds of cases of cookies, and Dr. Surya and Associates dental clinic, who has donated money, food, and cases of toothbrushes and toothpaste. If other local businesses would like to participate in 2024’s Share the Love food drive, Dan Fraser invites businesses to call him to discuss — he can be reached at 905-334-8464.

“If we all do a little bit, encourage friends, family, it all adds up,” the Frasers say.

And encourage family and friends they do. The Frasers personally put out over 200 flyers in their neighbourhood, where they’ve lived for 35 years. They fill their own car with food donations collected from their friends and neighbours. They have also connected with their own church, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and received generous cash donations to support the food drive.

Burlington Food Bank Executive Director Robin Bailey accepting a cheque from Bill Keenan, bishop of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints; the church has since made donations of $15,000 and $20,000. Photo courtesy of Merrilee and Dan Fraser.


In 2022, demand at the Burlington Food Bank had increased by 30%, causing them to rely on reserves of community monetary donations to fill the gap and stock their shelves. The Burlington Food Bank is always under immense pressure, but particularly in recent times, as requested assistance at Burlington Food Bank alone increased by 94% between 2019 and 2022, according to the food bank’s Feeding our Neighbours report. 

Food bank use in Ontario is at an all-time high, with over half a million people accessing Ontario food banks between April 1, 2021, and March 31, 2022, according to Feed Ontario. 

“There is lots of need, so we view it as an honour to support our community in this meaningful way,” say the Frasers.

The Frasers were collecting food during a big snowstorm in 2021; Merrilee says “It was a magical day because everyone was outside shovelling, there was tons of snow, people were happy and willing to donate.” Photos courtesy of the Frasers.


According to the Burlington Food Bank, COVID-19, inflation and the rising cost of living are some major factors that contribute to the growing need for food banks.

A few months after this year’s Share the Love food drive, Tim Hortons held their Smile Cookie Campaign. Tim Hortons was excited to announce that this year, Burlington’s Tim Hortons’ restaurant owners raised an overwhelming $144,929 to donate to the Burlington Food Bank. Over 25 Tim Hortons locations participated by selling the ever-popular smiley-faced cookies across the city during the first week of May.

The winter holidays are a popular time to donate to charity, but demand for food banks does not dwindle in summer, though donations often do. If you’ve been inspired by the Frasers and One Burlington, you can organize your own neighbourhood summer or fall food drive: you can register your event on their website (click here) and to donate or volunteer, visit http://burlingtonfoodbank.ca. If you have any questions about the need in Burlington, you can contact j.williams@burlingtonfoodbank.ca.

Sources:

Feed Ontario. 2023. Hunger Report 2022. Url: https://feedontario.ca/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/Hunger-Report-2022-Final.pdf

The Burlington Food Bank. Burlington Food Bank. Url: http://burlingtonfoodbank.ca

The Burlington Food Bank. 2023. Feeding our Neighbours Report 2022.