TORONTO, ON – Chicken Farmers of Ontario (CFO) announced a donation of $25,000 to the Daily Bread Food Bank as part of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation’s (CBC’s) annual Sounds of the Season fundraiser.
The donation was made on behalf of CFO’s 1,300 family-run chicken farms and CFO staff-associates. Flowing through the CFO Cares: Farmers to Food Banks program, this donation marks a significant increase to donations made in previous years.
CFO Chair Ed Benjamins joined Gill Deacon, host of CBC’s Here and Now, live on-air to make the announcement.
“Given the COVID-19 pandemic, and the increased pressure on local food banks, we’ve decided to increase our donation for this year as well,” said Ed Benjamins, Chair of Chicken Farmers of Ontario. “As farmers, we’re also leaders and business owners in our communities. We believe that means we have a responsibility to help our neighbours and donate what we can to support those in need.”
In addition to this financial contribution, the CFO Cares: Farmers to Food Banks program has continued to support local food banks throughout 2020. This year alone, 540 farm families have registered with the program, providing over 1.4 million meals of chicken to people in need.
“It’s the farm families that make this possible. The program enables farmers to grow and donate three hundred chickens a year in support of their local food banks,” said Benjamins. “Thanks to the continued support of the Ontario chicken farming community, the CFO Cares program has donated a total of five million meals to food banks, since 2015.”
The increased donation was made possible partially by the necessity to cancel in-person CFO events due to restrictions on public gatherings. CFO’s donation on behalf of farmer-members and staff-associates recognizes the extraordinary challenges facing Ontario food banks during the COVID-19 pandemic, and is made with gratitude to food bank staff and volunteers who are on the frontlines in the fight against hunger in local communities.
Source : CFO