Pre-pandemic, the Bernard Betel Centre delivered kosher meals to 160-200 fee-paying seniors, along with 20 free meals daily. During the pandemic, that number ballooned. We began providing free meals three times per week to 620 vulnerable Holocaust survivors and seniors living in poverty, with 450 food-insecure seniors sitting anxiously on our waitlist. Food vulnerability amongst seniors and Holocaust survivors in north Toronto and southwest York Region is not new. However, the pandemic exacerbated this existing issue.
Due to mobility issues and cognitive decline, some cannot cook or even shop for themselves. Many lack the financial resources, family and governmental supports to fill their pantries and fridges. They must make gut-wrenching decisions between paying rent and buying food. They rely solely on the Bernard Betel Centre’s volunteer-driven kosher Meals on Wheels program for not only food, but for social interaction, too.
“I’m living in a tiny apartment, with no one to talk to. You are the first person I’ve spoken to in weeks,” one 90-year-old client told us.
In addition to the over 620 seniors living in poverty currently receiving the Bernard Betel Centre’s free kosher meals, we screened 1,300 homebound seniors living in poverty in March 2022 alone. Over 700 of them do not receive any agency or community support and 450 of them need ongoing food assistance to survive. The issue is critical! We will be unable to continue providing free meals beyond January 2023. We need your help to continue this crucial service now, and in the future.
Seniors are going hungry. We desperately need your help to feed them!
Ticket Price: $250
To purchase a ticket, visit tribute-event.eventbrite.ca or call 416-225-2112, ext. 0.
If you can’t make the event, but still want to support the Bernard Betel Centre’s Meal on Wheels program click HERE or call 416-225-2112, ext. 0.
For partnership information, please contact Gail Gould at 416-225-2112, ext. 129 or gailg@betelcentre.org, or Bobby Walman at 416-587-7053 or bobbywalman@rogers.com.
For more information about the Tribute Event, please click HERE.
