Food Banks Mississauga is widening its reach to the youngest and oldest people it serves, announcing two new partnerships on Wednesday aimed at seniors and schoolchildren facing food insecurity.

The charity is teaming up with Peel Senior Link and with the YMCA of Greater Toronto's Peel Student Nutrition Program. It said the moves respond to rising need in both groups: almost 30 per cent of food bank visitors are children, and the organization now serves 35 per cent more seniors than it did in 2023.

Groceries to the door

Through the Peel Senior Link partnership, Food Banks Mississauga expects to bring food support to 50 more households in 2026 through its Food Bank 2 Home Delivery Program, which delivers custom grocery orders to seniors who cannot get to a food bank. The new deliveries will go to buildings where Peel Senior Link already operates, so more of the most at-risk seniors can receive food at home.

This partnership between Peel Senior Link and Food Banks Mississauga demonstrates the power of community collaboration.

— Samina Talat, CEO, Peel Senior Link

Help for school nutrition programs

The YMCA-run Peel Student Nutrition Program has joined the food bank's network of programs. The program supports a growing number of children at more than 300 school-based programs across Peel. Food Banks Mississauga will use its experience sourcing donated food in bulk to deliver essential food every three months, adding to what the program buys with provincial and federal funding.

Nicole Norris, a registered dietitian and the food bank's director of programs and agency network, said children who arrive at school hungry struggle to concentrate in class. She described the $0.18 per child per day that the federal and provincial governments provide as a step in the right direction, and said the partnership would help make sure kids have what they need.

We are not only reaching our elders to provide the vital food they need, but also children who are starting out in life, too.

— Nicole Norris, director of programs and agency network, Food Banks Mississauga

Norris added that seniors who face food insecurity are also more likely to experience social isolation, on top of the harm to their physical health.

Andy Seto, director of the YMCA's Peel Student Nutrition Program, pointed to rising food costs and growing student participation in nutrition programs. He said more food options and the chance to lower the cost of what the program buys would help more students in Peel eat, learn and reach their potential.