Kawartha Food Share is a 2-star charity that is not financially transparent. It has a below average D+ results reporting grade and a Good impact rating. It has $3.5m of cash reserves that can finance over seven years of its of annual program spending. Its just over 1% of overhead spending means that for every dollar donated, 99 cents are available to go to the cause.

Founded in 1998, Kawartha Food Share (KFS) collects and distributes food to organizations across Peterborough who then distribute food to those in need. The charity’s mission is ensuring everyone living in the city has reliable access to an emergency food source. KFS’s only program is food distribution, and it spent $476k on this program in the December 2022 fiscal year. Its 2022 financial statements were the most recently available at the time of this profile update.

On its website, KFS reports that it distributed over $10 million worth of food to 36 organizations (meal programs, food banks, shelters, and food cupboards) who then helped more than 14,000 monthly (over 168,000 people annually). The charity did not publish an annual report nor define when these metrics occurred at the time of this profile update.

Kawartha Food Share is not financially transparent. This means it does not post its audited financial statements publicly on its website. Ci attempted to retrieve its audited statements after contacting the charity but received no reply. Accordingly, Ci retrieved its 2022 audited financial statements from the CRA.

KFS’s audited financial statements follow activity-based costing – a best practice. This means it clearly discloses how much it spent on its program, administrative, and fundraising activities.

KFS received $1.0m in cash donations (15% of total revenue) and $6.0m worth of donated food (84% of revenue). Administrative costs are less than 1% of total revenue and fundraising costs are less than 1% of cash donations. Its 1% overhead means that for every dollar donated, 99 cents are available to go to the cause.

KFS spent $476k on its programs in 2022 – a 25% increase from $382k spent in 2021. It also distributed $5.9m worth of food in 2022 (11% increase from $5.3m distributed in 2021).

At the end of 2022, KFS had $3.5m in reserves (cash and investments). Its reserves can finance 736% or over seven years of its annual program spending. This exceeds Ci’s upper reasonable limit of 300% program cost coverage.

Profile updated by Julian Dranitsaris on July 29, 2025. Comments and corrections may be forthcoming.

Questions? Contact jdranitsaris@charityintelligence.ca