Express Bags Are Expanding
More Ways to Access Food When You Need It
Sometimes, food can’t wait.
For years, The Nourish and Develop Foundation (TNDF) has offered some form of emergency, pre-packed food support alongside our Food Bank. This year, as we’ve watched the circumstances facing local households continue to change, we’ve taken a closer look at that support — and how we can make it easier to access when someone needs it most.
The result is an expanded Express Bag program: pre-packed bags of essential food items available without an appointment at a growing number of locations across Brock Township.
Effective October 6, 2026, these expanded Express Bag options will be available across the community.
When one unexpected expense changes everything
TNDF’s Food Bank is already here for people experiencing food insecurity and financial hardship. But increasingly, we’re seeing just how little room many households have left when something unexpected happens.
More and more, we’re seeing people who are one unexpected situation away from a real food emergency. One day, they have a plan that just barely makes everything work. Then their hours are cut at work, an emergency vet bill comes up, a cheque is late hitting their account, or another expense they couldn’t have planned for lands at exactly the wrong time.
When money is this tight, people are often managing it incredibly carefully. There just isn’t much room left for something to go wrong — and when it does, suddenly there may not be enough left for food.
Of course, that’s what we’re here for. But sometimes, food can’t wait for our next available Food Bank appointment. We wanted to make an already difficult situation a little easier by making immediate food support available in more places, at more times, with as few barriers as possible.
Jess Topfer
Executive Director
Making Express Bags Easier to Access
Express Bags aren’t new to TNDF. Some version of emergency pre-packed food support has existed since our Food Bank began. What is new is the work we’ve done this year to make the program more accessible, consistent, and useful.
Express Bags are now available in three different sizes for households of 1–2, 3–4, and 5–6 people. There’s no appointment or advance arrangement required — community members can simply grab a bag from a participating location during its regular open or program hours.
To help us keep Express Bags available to as many households as possible, there is a limit of one Express Bag per household per month.
More places — and more times — to get food
One of the biggest improvements we’ve made is bringing Express Bags beyond the TNDF Community Hub.
We’re especially excited to partner with Brock Township Public Library to make Express Bags available at the Cannington Library – Timothy Findley Memorial Branch.
Not only does the partnership give community members another familiar and welcoming place to access food, but the Library’s hours complement our own. Our Food Bank currently offers evening access on Mondays and Wednesdays, while the Cannington Library is open Tuesday and Friday evenings. The Library is also open on Saturdays, adding another day of the week when someone can access food support if they need it.
We’ve also incorporated Express Bags into our Community Market, helping us bring them directly into Cannington, Sunderland, and Beaverton.
Together, these changes mean more places, more days, and more opportunities for someone to get a little food into their home when they need it.
Express Bags are available while supplies last during each location’s regular open or program hours.
Need More or Different Food Support?
Express Bags are intended to provide immediate, short-term food support. They’re another way to access food — but they aren’t a replacement for our regular Food Bank.
Because Express Bags are prepared ahead of time, their contents vary depending on what we have available and cannot be customized. We know that means a bag won’t work well for every household. Someone may have allergies or dietary needs, may not be able to use some of the foods included, or may simply need more support than an Express Bag can provide.
If you need more or different food support, give us a call at 705-432-2444.
We can help get you organized for a visit to the TNDF Food Bank, where you can choose your own food to better meet your household’s needs and preferences.
Made possible through community partnership
The expansion of our Express Bags program reflects the power of community partnerships in addressing food insecurity.
We are grateful to United Way Durham Region for a generous $9,500 contribution through the Tom Simmons Annual Grant program, under the Moving People from Poverty to Possibility: Food Security pillar.
Their investment in food security initiatives in North Durham is helping local organizations like TNDF respond to growing community needs and improve access to food for individuals and families experiencing acute food insecurity.
For TNDF, that support has allowed us to take an existing Food Bank access option and bring it further into the community — making Express Bags available at our Community Market stops in Cannington, Sunderland, and Beaverton, as well as through our new partnership with Brock Township Public Library at its Cannington branch.
We’re incredibly grateful for United Way Durham Region’s support in helping us make food easier to access when it’s needed most.
Help us keep Express Bags on the shelf
Every Express Bag that leaves one of our shelves needs to be filled again.
As more people learn about the program and more bags make their way into the community, we need your help to keep up. There are several ways to get involved:
Donate food. Shelf-stable staples like rice, canned vegetables, canned meat, breakfast foods, and snacks can go directly toward keeping Express Bags stocked.
Make a financial donation. Financial gifts allow us to purchase the foods we’re running short on, as well as the bags themselves and other supplies needed to keep the program running.
Volunteer with us. Volunteers are an important part of making this program possible. They help pack Express Bags, sort and organize food donations, manage Food Bank stock, keep shelves organized, and take care of the behind-the-scenes work that keeps food moving out into our community.
Whether you give food, funds, or your time, you can help make sure an Express Bag is there when someone reaches for one.
When household budgets are stretched this tightly, sometimes even the best-laid plan gets knocked off course.
When that happens, food can’t wait.
