The annual “Loonies on the Street” fundraiser returns for its 25th year this Friday (December 12) from 7 to 10 a.m. just outside of Peterborough Square at the corner of George and Simcoe Streets in downtown Peterborough, aiming once again to raise $100,000 for Kawartha Food Share.
As FREQ 90.5 and OLDIES 96.7 broadcast the event live, a “bucket brigade” of volunteers will be collecting loose change up and down George Street, with volunteers from the Peterborough Lions Club doing the same on the Hunter Street Bridge.
Over the past 24 years, the event has brought in more than $2.2 million in monetary donations for Kawartha Food Share. As of the date of this story, $87,616 has already been raised for this year’s event.
Those unable to donate during the event can visit the Kawartha Food Share warehouse at 665 Neal Drive before December 12 (anytime between 9 and 4 p.m. Monday to Thursday) to make a monetary donation, or donate online at canadahelps.org/en/pages/3-loonies-on-the-street/.
The annual Hunger Report from Feed Ontario released last Monday (December 1) found that food bank use in the province has increased for the ninth year in a row, with more than one million Ontarians using a food bank between April 2024 and March 2025 — an increase of 87 per cent since 2019-2020 — and making a record-breaking 8.7 million visits (a 13 per increase over the previous year and a 165 per cent increase since 2019-2020).
According to the report, 35 per cent of food bank users were new or first-time visitors and 23 per cent were employed, which is an increase of 84 per cent since 2019-2020. A third of users were children under the age of 18 and twice as many seniors were using food banks compared to 2019-2020.
Kawartha Food Share is a central collection and distribution warehouse that partners with 37 member agency food banks, food cupboards, and other food action programs in the City and County of Peterborough.
More than 35 per cent of the 14,000 people Kawartha Food Share feeds every month are children, with the non-profit organization also providing nutritious snacks for 51 area school breakfast programs helping over 17,000 children get a healthy start to their school day.
Kawartha Food Share also provides outreach to those living with food insecurity by partnering with community meal programs, including those provided by Brock Mission, One City Peterborough, Salvation Army Peterborough, and more.
