COVID-19 RESPONSE

Our commitment to providing nutritious food for those who are food insecure is critical right now with the outbreak of coronavirus. Even more critical is to do it safely for our clients and volunteers.

To ensure our community’s safety, and in order to follow adequate cleaning and disinfecting protocols, FYFB will only be open the following hours:

HOURS

GROCERY SERVICE
Tuesday
9:00 AM – 4:00 PM

Wednesday, Thursday
9:00 AM – 12:00 PM

Friday
9:00 AM – 4:00 PM

Saturday
9:00 AM – 12:00 PM

HOT MEAL SERVICE
Sunday 12:00 PM – 2:00 PM

*Please do not visit if you are not feeling well

NEW POLICIES

The Fort York Food Bank has put into place practices to align with Toronto Public Health guidelines, including the reduction of the number of volunteers on-site and ensuring adequate space for physical distancing.

MASK POLICY – as of March 21, 2022 masks are mandatory at the Fort York Food Bank. Full details available here.

COVID 19 Vaccination Policy – as of October 21, 2021 FYFB Staff are strongly encouraged to receive a COVID-19 vaccine, unless there are documented medical reasons not to get vaccinated. Full details available here.

physical distancing

hot meals

Markers will be placed 2 meters apart from FYFB’s front door moving East down College Street
No clients will be permitted to enter the food bank
Volunteers will be provided with the appropriate amount of working space to ensure they are two meters apart from each other

Hot meal service will only be available Sundays between 12:00 PM and 1:00 PM

COVID-19 Vaccination Policy

Policy Statement

Fort York Food Bank (FYFB) is committed to providing a safe and healthy work environment and recognizes the importance of COVID-19 vaccination of employees, student placements, volunteers, and contractors – all of them are referred to herein as “Staff” – due to the nature of their work with vulnerable individuals and potential for exposure in the community. This COVID-19 vaccination policy aims to protect Staff, clients and the broader community of FYFB. It also outlines expectations with regards to COVID-19 vaccination of Staff.

BACKGROUND AND CURRENT SITUATION

Full vaccination has been shown to be effective in reducing COVID-19 virus transmission and protecting vaccinated individuals from severe consequences of COVID-19 and COVID-19 variants including the Delta variant currently circulating in Ontario.

Given the continuing spread of COVID-19, including the Delta variant, within Ontario, the compelling data demonstrating a higher incidence of COVID-19 among the unvaccinated population and the increasing levels of contact between individuals as businesses, services, and activities have reopened, it is important for Staff to be fully vaccinated in order to protect themselves against serious illness from COVID-19 as well as to provide indirect protection to others. Therefore all FYFB Staff are strongly encouraged to receive a COVID-19 vaccine, unless there are documented medical reasons to not get vaccinated.

FYFB does not condone harassment or discrimination toward anyone regarding their vaccination status.

Procedures

1. Mandatory Vaccination for Staff Candidates: Any person applying to be Staff will be mandated to demonstrate full vaccination1 against COVID-19 as a pre-condition for becoming Staff.

2. Vaccination for Existing Staff: It is important that all individuals make an informed decision about whether to receive a COVID-19 vaccine. Consistent with government mandated vaccination policy requirements, all existing Staff will be required to:

a) Provide proof of full vaccination against COVID-19; or

b) Provide written proof of a medical reason, provided by a physician or nurse practitioner, that sets out:

i. A documented and bona fide medical reason for not being fully vaccinated against COVID-19; and

ii. The effective time period for the medical reason.

3. Consequences of non-compliance: FYFB has the right to restrict the work and the locations that Staff may be in if they are not fully vaccinated.

As of December 4, 2021, unvaccinated Staff will not be permitted to work on-site or be in physical contact with others associated with FYFB in the course of the carrying out of FYFB’s programs. Unvaccinated employees will be placed on a non-disciplinary unpaid leave of absence and unvaccinated volunteers will stop their work at FYFB.

4. Support for Vaccination: FYFB will provide support for Staff subject to this policy to receive a vaccine. This could include assistance with booking vaccine appointments, one day off for employees to receive a vaccine, etc.

Ongoing Monitoring and Assessment of Safety Measures

FYFB will continue to closely monitor its COVID-19 risk mitigation strategy and the evolving public health information and context, to ensure that it continues to optimally protect the health and safety of Staff in the workplace as well as FYFB clients. To that end, other available workplace risk mitigation measures will continue to be evaluated. If it is determined that additional precautions are necessary, FYFB may decide to deploy new measures (including at an individual level) and may amend this policy accordingly.

DOCUMENTATION AND CONFIDENTIALITY

Vaccine documentation for Staff will be kept confidential and securely stored. Without written documentation, Staff are considered to be not immunized. FYFB will, to the best of its ability, protect the personal health information of Staff including their vaccination status if possible.

If you have any questions regarding this policy, or require further accommodations please reach out to Jorge Muina on jorgemuina@gmail.com

Resources

About the coronavirus disease:

Click here.

Physical distancing fact sheet: