MISSISSAUGA,ON – Food Banks Canada announces the recipients of its annual 2016 Corporate Donor awards. These awards celebrate Food Banks Canada’s partnerships with corporate Canada and reflect the diverse ways that companies are contributing to addressing hunger in Canada and the more than 850,000 people helped by food banks each month.  
 
“Each day in Canada, men, women and children are turning to food banks for assistance so it’s an honour to be able to work alongside our outstanding corporate supporters to find solutions to hunger,” says Marc Guay, Chair of the Board, Food Banks Canada. “These organizations are inspiring examples of what thousands of organizations are doing to improve the lives of Canadians each and every day.”   
 
2016 AWARD RECIPIENTS
 
The Award of Excellence was presented to Walmart Canada.  Walmart Canada's extensive philanthropy program is focused on supporting Canadian families in need, and since 1994 Walmart has raised and donated more than $250 million to Canadian charities.  Since 2011 Walmart Canada has donated more than $1,100,000 to food banks in addition to expanding support by ensuring surplus food is directed to local food banks through Food Banks Canada’s Retail Food program. Additionally, Walmart Canada’s stores support local food banks and since 2013, 4 million pounds of food have been donated to food banks in communities across the country. Recognizing the serious issue of food insecurity in Canada, Walmart Canada is committed to providing ongoing and predictable resources to Food Banks Canada, recently naming them to its charities of choice list, an honour shared with only three other organizations.
 
The Donor of the Year was awarded to BESTSELLER, a global fashion company offering clothing and accessories across many fashion forward brands. Online and in-store, BESTSELLER’s staff passionately merged giving with retail merchandising, with its inaugural campaign in 2015 that raised $253,000. These funds are being used to support Canadians in need and is supporting the creation of a program focused on engaging youth to provide leadership, skills and energy to build the next generation of social leaders.
 
This year, two organizations were honoured with the Innovator of the Year Award: Compass Group of Canada and Farm Credit Canada.
 
Compass Group Canada is the nation’s leading foodservice and support services company.  As part of their commitment to a sustainable future around food security they have invested in the food banks network ability to access fresh foods through the development of community gardens. Additionally, the company is leading by example with its Nourish program that engages employees, vendors, clients and customers.  Together, they have supported nine community gardens that yielded 50,000 pounds of fresh food for community food banks.
 
Farm Credit Canada, the leading agriculture lender in the country, worked with Food Banks Canada to put a focus on measurable impact.  Driven by its flagship Community Investment Program, FCC Drive Away Hunger, a hallmark of its longstanding partnership with the food banking network in Canada,
Farm Credit Canada provided the funding and research for Food Banks Canada to develop a quantifiable way to determine the impact of a single dollar invested to help the food bank network.  $1.00 = 3 meals is a consistent number now used for national fundraising, cause-marketing, and food drive campaigns.
 
Congratulations to all the donors who have committed to addressing hunger in Canada through their generous support and innovative solutions to addressing hunger in Canada.