Canadian Food For Children

About Canadian Food For Children:

Founded in 1985, Canadian Food For Children is a Christian organization that sends food and supplies to developing countries. Shipping containers are packed with dried peas, beans, flour, powdered eggs, granola bars, pasta, cookies, jam, and soup mix. Any remaining space is filled with small furniture, books, wheelchairs, bicycles, clothing, shoes, and household goods. The charity aims to fill a 40-foot container every day. The containers are sent from Mississauga to one of 22 developing countries.

In F2017, Canadian Food For Children sent 307 shipments, weighing a total of 4,777 tonnes. The largest recipients of shipments were Sierra Leone with 1,051 tonnes, Honduras with 984 tonnes, and El Salvador with 971 tonnes.

Canadian Food For Children was founded after Mother Teresa requested that food be sent to Tanzania and Ethiopia. At the time, drought made food difficult to source locally. Thirty years later, the charity continues to ship food from Canada, rather than support developing economies by purchasing goods closer to the areas of operation. In F2017, transportation costs represented 23% of total expenses.  

Financial Review:

The charity’s financial statements have not been audited. Canadian Charities Directorate recommends that charities with income over $250k have audited financial statements.

Canadian Food For Children is a large charity, with donations of $9.6m in F2017. In F2017, the charity did not indicate what portion of the donations were goods-in-kind and which were monetary. Administrative costs are 2% of revenues, and the charity reports spending no money on fundraising. For every $1 donated, 98 cents go to the cause, falling outside of Ci’s reasonable range. When charities report such low overhead, there may be a misallocation of costs. Canadian Food For Children has funding reserves of $1.1m which could cover less than 2 months of program costs.

This charity report is an update that has been sent to Canadian Food For Children for review. Changes and edits may be forthcoming.

Updated on July 17, 2018 by Madison Kerr.