Chelsea Hotel Toronto Just Keeps On Giving

Whether or not there is a plaque on the wall or not, the Chelsea Hotel, Toronto knows that it’s ‘better to give than to receive,’ so it’s not surprising that the hotel chose to build on its annual food drive during the festive season and donate $1 per stay throughout the month of December to Daily Bread Food Bank.

In fact, during the past several years, the icon Toronto hotel has collected close to 2,000 pounds of food each year, as part of its holiday drive, but wanted to do more.

Noting that over the past 12 months, there have been 1.99 million visits to Toronto food banks, and demand is projected to push that number to over two million for the 2022 calendar year, Daily Bread Food Bank CEO, Neil Hetherington said that: “The need for food banks is at crisis levels, with no sign of slowing down.”

Hetherington continued: “The support of community partners, like the Chelsea Hotel, is more important than ever as we have tripled the amount of food going out to our city since the pandemic, to meet this dramatic rise in need.”

With this news and the hotel’s past support, it was decided to take the commitment to the next level. By the end of December, the hotel raised $15,000.00 for Daily Bread Food Bank. The hotel also collected 1500 pounds of food.

Josef Ebner, regional vice-president – Canada & managing director, Chelsea Hotel, Toronto, said: “The ability to ‘give back’ to the community is not only an important value of the Chelsea Hotel, Toronto but it is something the hotel practices every day.”

Ebner continued: “We are not only willing to go above and beyond to bring comfort to our guests, but also to bring comfort to families in need in the local community in which we operate.  It is our hope that our fundraising efforts will make a significant difference for those who depend on Daily Bread Food Bank.”

Ebner’s point is reinforced by some startling numbers from the Daily Bread Food Bank that show that:

• After rent and utilities are paid, food bank clients have a median of $8.01 left per person, per day, to pay for food and all other necessities. This is a drop from last year’s median of $9.17 per day.
• 69% of food bank clients were paying at least half of their income on housing, putting them at risk of homelessness.
• 39% of food bank clients report that they do not have people in their lives to count on in times of need. That is five times higher than the general population at 8%.

Go to www.chelseatoronto.com or www.dailybread.ca for more.

CAPTION (Top Photo)

Seen here from, l to r, are Neil Hetherington, CEO, Daily Bread Food Bank; Rob Housez, General Manager, Chelsea Hotel; Elaine Thompson, Accounts Payable Clerk, Chelsea Hotel/Daily Bread Food Bank leader and Tracy Ford, Director of Public Relations, Chelsea Hotel