No Food Should Go to Waste

Turning surplus into support for families across Halton

By Bonnie Wiltshire

I am the owner and CEO of the Food Equity Everyday Program, or iFEED. I launched iFEED informally in 2020 during the COVID pandemic. It was almost an accidental beginning. I had visited a local bakery and noticed they were throwing out their remaining bread at the end of the day. When I asked why, they explained that they bake fresh daily and anything not picked up by a charity has to go into the landfill.

During the pandemic, many organizations had to stop pickups, as some didn’t have volunteers, and others needed to follow strict health protections for vulnerable clients. When I heard that, I simply asked how I could help.

I began picking up the bread five days a week. At the time, it was just me and my son helping when he could. We collected what we could and started distributing it to food shelters across Halton and into Peel, doing everything possible to keep that food from going to waste.

From there, I began working with an elementary school, which was my youngest son’s school, to support families identified by the administration as needing help. I created a system that protected confidentiality, using coded bins so families could receive support without being identified. With my background in public health, I was very intentional about ensuring everything was handled with care and according to standards.

That model worked well, and word spread. Other schools began reaching out, and the program grew. At one point, we were the only organization providing continuous food support during COVID while others had paused operations. As it grew, I formalized iFEED as a federally incorporated not-for-profit. What began with one school expanded to seven schools in Halton and three agencies.

Now, in our sixth year, we are supported by local businesses, including bakeries and the Milton Horticultural Society, which provides fresh produce during the growing season. We focus on bakery items and fresh fruits and vegetables that can be distributed immediately, ensuring both safety and quality. Families are very appreciative of that support.

We also have a volunteer team made up of working adults and high school students completing their volunteer hours. That part of the program has been running for several years.

What I appreciate most is being a smaller, hands-on organization. There are fewer barriers between us and the people we serve.

Even as CEO, I’m out there with the volunteers—picking up, packaging, and distributing food. Because we operate year-round, unlike many larger organizations, we provide consistent support through school breaks and holidays.

That also means I get to build relationships with families. When schools are closed, families come directly to me. Over time, trust develops. I’ve come to know their stories, their preferences, and some of the challenges they face.

Food insecurity is deeply tied to income insecurity. When a family loses a provider or faces illness, the impact is immediate. We’ve supported families through those moments, and we continue to support them even after their children leave the school system.

This work goes beyond food. It becomes a more holistic kind of care—being present, listening, and sometimes offering guidance or referrals where needed.

Privacy and dignity are central to everything we do. Not everyone who needs support feels comfortable accessing a food bank. Some prefer to remain unseen, and often those are the people who are most vulnerable. Our coding system helps protect that dignity. Each family has a bin identified only by a code, known to the school administration but not to others. We also continue to adapt—some families prefer to pick up directly rather than through the school, and we accommodate that.

I would like to see more youth engagement. Our youth volunteer program is growing, and I would like to expand it further—not just in participation, but in understanding. I want young people to better understand food insecurity and why their role matters.

There is an opportunity to include more education—helping them connect their volunteer experience to broader social issues and to their own future paths.

A practical next step would be creating opportunities for youth volunteers to come together—whether through an event or gathering—where they can meet, learn, and engage more deeply. Bringing in speakers and creating space for conversation could help them better understand the social context they are part of, and how their contributions matter.

It’s about fostering a sense of collective responsibility—encouraging them to think about what they want to bring into the world and how they can be part of making it better.

At a broader level, it would deepen our collective understanding of food equity. It would mean valuing food differently: reducing waste, growing what we can, and living more sustainably. It would also mean recognizing our shared responsibility to support families who don’t have consistent access to food.

This could take shape in community programs that teach people how to grow their own food and better understand the impact of their choices. Additionally, an important piece is funding. Access to grant funding would allow us to expand and scale what we do, reaching more families and strengthening the impact of the program.

Story curated by Phillip McAllister

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This post is part of a larger CDH Member Story Project. The intent is to share the depth of our non-profit sector, name how community can support and imagine together what is possible through the non-profit sector to ensure Halton is a health, inclusive and resilient place to live.

Are you a CDH member and want to let your story to the project. You can get started HERE.