M.I.N.D.: Summer Update 2026
Updated: Aug 26
This has been a year of bold moves, big wins, and real impact - and every bit of it belongs to you. Whether you've made a gift, packed our ready-to-eat meals, shared our story, or shown up for an event, you are the reason MIND keeps growing. Here's everything your support has made possible.
A New Home for Nourishment
For years, our kitchen at 40 Firvalley Court kept meals coming - but ongoing construction, asbestos remediation, and shrinking space made it harder every month to keep our team safe and our service steady. So we made a bold move: we relocated our kitchen operations to Grace Place Food Bank at 1428 Kennedy Road in Scarborough.
Thanks to this community, we didn't just move - we upgraded. New commercial appliances. Stainless steel prep tables. A triple-compartment sink station (Chef Wilbur's personal favourite). We've gone from an 8' x 10' kitchen to a full scale professional facility, multiplying our capacity to store, prep, and distribute food at scale.
Smarter Partnerships, Stronger Community
Big changes call for smart decisions. While planning our move, our Board recognized an opportunity: Soso World Ministries operates a large food bank just 400 metres from our old site. Rather than duplicate services, we made the responsible choice to step back from operating a walk-in food bank at Firvalley and to direct tenants to Soso World Ministries, who offer priority access for TCHC tenants and people with accessibility needs.
This lets MIND do what we do best, and do it even better: preparing hearty, ready-to-eat, culturally appropriate and health responsive meals for the people who need them most.
New this summer: Tuesday Hot Lunches in Partnership with CMHA and TCHC
This June, we launched something we're really proud of: a brand-new Tuesday hot lunch program in partnership with CMHA Scarborough and Toronto Community Housing at 10 Glen Everest Road. Every week, MIND delivers vibrant party platters to fuel CMHA's group programming - and TCHC tenant volunteers step up to serve their neighbours, turning mealtime into moments of real connection. The response has been phenomenal, and it's proof of what's possible when organizations aligned on the same mission come together: stronger community bonds, better nutrition, and real wellness for the people we serve.
Growing Our Team,
Thanks to the Peter Gilgan Foundation
Behind every meal is a team working hard to make it happen - and this year, that team got stronger. Thanks to the generous support of $15,000 from the Peter Gilgan Foundation, we welcomed Marie Pascual as our new Program Assistant. With extensive professional kitchen experience, Marie is not only supporting our day to day administrative needs, but is helping Chef Wilbur manage our production demands, so we can keep pace with rising need across Scarborough and Toronto.
Responding to Urgent Need: The Slaight Emergency Food Fund
When crisis hits, MIND shows up. This year, the Slaight Emergency Food Fund through Right to Food awarded us $7,000 to purchase groceries in direct support of The Carlton House refugee shelter - helping ensure that individuals rebuilding their lives in a new country have one less thing to worry about: their next meal.
In the Spotlight: Featured by United Way
The best way to understand our work is through the people it touches. This spring, MIND, a United Way funded agency, was featured on United Way's blog, sharing the story of Ted Marshall - a long-time recipient of MIND meals now five years into recovery and living in stable TCHC housing. Ted shares about the impact of MIND meals in his life:
"For the first time, I could make small choices for myself again," Ted shares. "I could go see a movie, do things I enjoy, which doesn't happen often enough."
What started as a once-a-month pizza drop at Ted's building years ago has grown into a weekly gathering of 60+ neighbours. As MIND's Executive Director Grace Chan puts it: "Our meals can be a doorway...this may be the only place in someone's week where they sit beside another person and feel seen." Read Ted's full story here or watch the United Way video feature below:
HOLIDAY EVENT 2026
Last but not least, stay tuned for our end-of-year holiday event: MAGIC OF THE SEASON, an evening of wonder featuring magician Sawyer Bullock and a holiday feast crafted by guest chefs (including our very own chef, Wilbur Nixon). Mark your calendars for the evening of November 21st, 2026. Limited tickets available! Invite your friends and family. Ticket sales begin October 2026. Every ticket helps MIND Program fight food poverty in low-income communities as we head into the new year.
Together, We Keep Going
None of this - the new kitchen, growing partnerships, the meals reaching The Hub to Carlton House to Glen Everest - happens without you. This has been a year of transformation, and it's only the beginning. As we head into the season of giving, we hope you'll join us for Magic of the Season, share our story, or simply keep believing in what a shared meal can do.
Thank you for standing with MIND every step of the way. You're not just funding groceries or a kitchen upgrade - you're building a more resilient, connected Scarborough.
Together, we nourish hope.
The MIND Program team
Comments