What began as a single table offering free food during the COVID-19 pandemic has spread to communities across the GTA, including Newmarket.
The table at Yonge Street and Davis Drive is stocked with food items and a sign that says, “Free Food. Take only what you need.”
The Newmarket table is one of more than 25 that have popped up in the GTA in the last year as part of the Full Table Project to combat hunger.
Program founder Yasha Elias, who began the initiative in his hometown of Mississauga, said the project has caught on because so many people want to help "but they don't know what to do."
When they see the tables, people contact him asking him to set one up in their own neighbourhood, he added.
The program helps low-income families with single mothers and fathers, retirees with fixed incomes, as well as the homeless community, Elias said.
The tables are placed in as many locations as possible so that everyone who needs them can benefit.
"We try to find areas where we know there is a need ... so people don't have to go looking for them," he said.
The tables are not monitored, though some residents have taken it upon themselves to watch over a table in their neighbourhood, and the program relies on volunteers and Good Samaritans to make sure the food is replenished daily.
"The tables belong to the people," he said.
The program is "totally necessary" because unlike a food bank that requires proof of address, the program allows anyone in the community who needs food to get it — no questions asked, Elias said.
"A lot of people we help are actually living out of their cars, they don't have a proof of address so they can't go to a food bank and get support. Unfortunately that's how the system is set up."
Elias and others try to make fresh food like sandwiches available on weekends because they are easier for the homeless community to consume than canned goods. His mother, he said, makes 100 sandwiches for her local table every weekend.
The program began during the height of the pandemic when many people found themselves out of work or struggling to put food on the table. Elias said it was the right time to start the program but there are no plans to stop it because "there's always going to be a need."
It breaks his heart, he added, to hear stories of people who may have enough money to pay their rent but don't have any food in their fridge to feed themselves or their families.
Elias was moved to start the program after seeing a food table set up by Mississauga residents Bill and Shirley Graham, who he calls his inspiration. He began donating food to their table and thought it was such a wonderful concept that he set up two more.
He has received a lot of support from individuals in Newmarket, as well as police officers and municipal officials in other areas, he said. There are plans for tables in Ajax and Barrie and Elias has even received requests from Ottawa.
He has no specific goals for the program except to feed as many people in possible, he said. He doesn't know exactly how many tables there are because new ones are added daily but he doesn't rule out that it will grow to include cities and towns throughout the province.
"This whole thing was just to bring the communities together and just unite everyone; it's about helping your neighbour. We're so blessed that so many are getting involved."
To set up a table in your neighbourhood, contact Full Table Project.
