Feeding the physical, as well as the spiritual needs is our salient ministry. Friends and members are extraordinarily faithful to the teachings of Jesus about feeding the hungry. Our faithful volunteers help others up against grinding poverty and expect nothing in return because there is a need to be filled and they fill it:
“For when I was hungry, you gave me food, when thirsty you gave me drink, when I was a stranger you took me into your home, when naked you clothed me, when I was ill you came to my help, when in prison you visited me.”
Breakfast Ministry
Very early every Thursday morning we serve approximately 200 hot meals for the poorest and most vulnerable in the lower east downtown Toronto.
Please note that the Breakfast Programme is now on summer hours. Each Thursday during the summer months, the doors will open for breakfast at 5:15 a.m., with the hot food being served from 5:45 a.m. until 6:45 a.m., when we will shut down for clean-up. If anyone arrives in the next few minutes they will be given a take-away container. (We need to have the Parish Hall cleared by 7:30 a.m. so that the Children’s Centre can begin setting up). The Breakfast Ministry will resume regular Thursday hours on 7 September, 2023.
Emergency Food Bank Ministry
Twice weekly, we help supplement the nutritional needs of low income singles and families in the Regent Park area with basic nourishment.
The Food Bank will be closed during the months of July and August. It will reopen on Monday, 11 September, 2023 (Mondays and Thursdays from 10:00 a.m. until 11:30 a.m.).
Christmas Hampers
Christmas Outreach is provided to several hundred low-income residents of the downtown east core. Single persons and families are helped at Christmas with a No Frills gift card and toys for the children. This is a long-standing ministry at St Bart’s. Money is raised from private sources to fund this outreach.