While the outpatient midday lunch program takes centre stage each weekday between noon and 2 p.m., it only spans two hours. For many of our clients, food insecurity is a challenge they experience 24/7. As a result, we provide supplementary snack kits to complement our lunch service and provide food during off-hours. Now, almost a year later, the overwhelming demand for snack kits continues to increase.
Clients and community members can pick-up a morning snack kit before noon or an afternoon kit after 2 p.m. from the client support assistants at reception. Inside the snack kits are easy to eat high calorie foods such as crackers, jams, chocolate-hazelnut spreads, juice, a Jello or pudding cup, and a granola bar. Morning kits may have milk and cereal while afternoon kits may have a vegetable cocktail.
An afternoon snack kit
While we always want to provide nutritious options for our clients, these kits are packed with shelf stability in mind since many folks do not have access to storage spaces or refrigerators. Plus, for people sleeping rough, higher calorie intake is necessary if they cannot consistently eat throughout the day. Clients can enjoy perishable items like fruit during our weekday lunch service.
Snack kits were first distributed in response to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, with 20 morning kits and 20 afternoon kits allocated per day. Later, we increased availability to 30 kits each. In 2025, we are now assembling as many as we can in order to try and meet demand. We first began collecting data on snack kits in October 2024, where we distributed 1015 kits. This figure more than doubled in the following month, with 2517 kits given out in November. We saw our highest peak yet in May with 4324 snack kits given to clients and community members – equating to 139 per day. On average, 1 in 4 clients receiving snack kits self-reported experiencing a high or urgent need for food on our multiple resilience assessment tool (MRAT). At Casey House, we continue to make strides toward supporting our community. As food insecurity rates rise in the city, we are pushing food to the forefront as a priority to serve our people and develop meaningful connections founded on trust.
Supplies for an assembly session that produced more than one thousand snack kits
So what does it take to support an average of 2500 kits given out monthly? With about 7-8 items and additional cutlery, it is a massive undertaking to pack. Nevertheless, many hands make for light work, and that’s where we look to some incredible groups of volunteers to help.
A few of our incredible corporate volunteer groups that have helped us assemble snack kits
Casey House is grateful for the many fantastic volunteer groups who come to spend an afternoon packing snack bags with us. These local champions rally their staff to donate their time to help our clients. While we don’t keep a formal ranking of which groups make the most kits, there have been many impressive showings that have produced thousands of newly packed snack bags in one session. Thank you to our wonderful corporate volunteers for bolstering our supplies!
Our snack bags encourage folks to nourish themselves and to enjoy a treat. When each day includes uncertainty about where your next meal is coming from, we hope that our kits can provide some fuel in their tank and some extra encouragement knowing that it was packed with love.
Our leadership team pitching in during a busy Pride season
August 25, 2025
Snack kits at Casey House
A morning snack kit
While the outpatient midday lunch program takes centre stage each weekday between noon and 2 p.m., it only spans two hours. For many of our clients, food insecurity is a challenge they experience 24/7. As a result, we provide supplementary snack kits to complement our lunch service and provide food during off-hours. Now, almost a year later, the overwhelming demand for snack kits continues to increase.
Clients and community members can pick-up a morning snack kit before noon or an afternoon kit after 2 p.m. from the client support assistants at reception. Inside the snack kits are easy to eat high calorie foods such as crackers, jams, chocolate-hazelnut spreads, juice, a Jello or pudding cup, and a granola bar. Morning kits may have milk and cereal while afternoon kits may have a vegetable cocktail.
An afternoon snack kit
While we always want to provide nutritious options for our clients, these kits are packed with shelf stability in mind since many folks do not have access to storage spaces or refrigerators. Plus, for people sleeping rough, higher calorie intake is necessary if they cannot consistently eat throughout the day. Clients can enjoy perishable items like fruit during our weekday lunch service.
Snack kits were first distributed in response to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, with 20 morning kits and 20 afternoon kits allocated per day. Later, we increased availability to 30 kits each. In 2025, we are now assembling as many as we can in order to try and meet demand. We first began collecting data on snack kits in October 2024, where we distributed 1015 kits. This figure more than doubled in the following month, with 2517 kits given out in November. We saw our highest peak yet in May with 4324 snack kits given to clients and community members – equating to 139 per day. On average, 1 in 4 clients receiving snack kits self-reported experiencing a high or urgent need for food on our multiple resilience assessment tool (MRAT). At Casey House, we continue to make strides toward supporting our community. As food insecurity rates rise in the city, we are pushing food to the forefront as a priority to serve our people and develop meaningful connections founded on trust.
Supplies for an assembly session that produced more than one thousand snack kits
So what does it take to support an average of 2500 kits given out monthly? With about 7-8 items and additional cutlery, it is a massive undertaking to pack. Nevertheless, many hands make for light work, and that’s where we look to some incredible groups of volunteers to help.
A few of our incredible corporate volunteer groups that have helped us assemble snack kits
Casey House is grateful for the many fantastic volunteer groups who come to spend an afternoon packing snack bags with us. These local champions rally their staff to donate their time to help our clients. While we don’t keep a formal ranking of which groups make the most kits, there have been many impressive showings that have produced thousands of newly packed snack bags in one session. Thank you to our wonderful corporate volunteers for bolstering our supplies!
Our snack bags encourage folks to nourish themselves and to enjoy a treat. When each day includes uncertainty about where your next meal is coming from, we hope that our kits can provide some fuel in their tank and some extra encouragement knowing that it was packed with love.
Our leadership team pitching in during a busy Pride season
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