Food Banks Mississauga holiday drive raises a record $3.2 million

Mississauga residents gave more to the city's food bank network this holiday season than ever before. Food Banks Mississauga said Tuesday that its 2025 Holiday Drive raised $3,195,507, the most the community has contributed to any single campaign.

The drive ran from Nov. 12 to Jan. 9. Its $3-million goal was the largest the organization had ever set for a holiday campaign. A year earlier, the 2024 drive raised just over $3 million against a target of $2.5 million, which was a record at the time.

A bigger goal, set out of need

Food Banks Mississauga called the goal ambitious and said the amount needed reflects a growing food insecurity emergency in the city. The organization supplies a network of more than 60 agencies and food programs across Mississauga, and it said that network recorded more than 503,000 visits last year from people who needed help. It described that as more than a 400 per cent increase from before the COVID-19 pandemic.

The organization also pointed to the latest Canada's Food Price Report, which projects that an average family of four will spend more than $17,000 on groceries this year. With food prices still rising, it said it is bracing for even more demand.

I've said it before, and I'll say it again: we don't want to keep breaking records. But we have had to increase our campaign goals because that's the reality of what we're facing on the ground.

— Meghan Nicholls, CEO, Food Banks Mississauga

Nicholls thanked donors for helping the network provide immediate relief to people in need. She also asked residents to contact their elected officials and press for government policy changes so that the most vulnerable people do not fall further behind, saying that is how food bank use can come down over time.

Matching gift

Orlando Corporation, a Mississauga-based real estate company, again matched monetary donations to the holiday drive, up to $150,000.

The holiday drive has closed, but the food bank continues to take donations and recruit volunteers year-round. Details are on the Food Banks Mississauga website.