In our next instalment of Canadian charities that benefit kids, this seemed like the perfect time of year to shine the spotlight on Canada’s Food Banks.

Why? Because 37% of those helped by food banks are children and youth. Because 39% of assisted households are families with children. Because in Ontario food bank use has gone up 19% since 2008 and in BC it’s gone up 15%. And because for each dollar you donate they can purchase the equivalent of three dollars worth of groceries.

Nearly two million Canadians feel food insecure, worrying about not having enough food for themselves and their families and almost 800,000 Canadians are assisted by food banks each month.

Who are these Canadians? The working poor, children, persons with disabilities, seniors, single parent families and more. And many food banks don’t just offer food to those who need it, they also provide services and support such as nutrition education, referrals to other community services and assistance to those looking for employment, affordable housing, childcare and more.

This fall they’ve also launched their Feeding Families program which provides resources to food banks to help them assist families with school aged kids. Founding sponsorship from McCain Foods (Canada) has made it possible for Feeding Families to hit the ground running. They’ve launched with an educational fact sheet on eating healthily on a limited budget that will be distributed to over 50,000 food bank clients nationwide.

And they make it easy for you to help the 884 food banks in Canada (and 2,906 affiliated agencies). You can donate money, food, time, heck you can even donate your used cell phone.

To discover more about the work Canada’s food banks do in your neighbourhood visit foodbankscanada.ca.

If you have a favourite charity that you would love to see profiled, please let us know and if you have any personal stories of how a food bank has helped you or someone you know we’d love it if you’d share them using the comment functionality at the bottom of this article on the yoyomama site.