FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
WHERE IS MAZON CANADA LOCATED?
DO YOU OPERATE IN MY PROVINCE?
MAZON Canada supports food projects from BC to Nova Scotia all the way up to Iqaluit.
Click here to see a map of our current Partner Programs and find one near you!
Our national office is located in Toronto at 788 Marlee Ave, Suite 301.
Our staff is permanently semi-remote to promote accessibility and flexibility.
However, we are always available by phone or email!
Toronto Local: (416) 783-7554
Toll-free: 1-866-MAZON-22 (1-866-629-6622)
IS MY DONATION TO MAZON CANDA TAX-DEDUCTIBLE?
HOW DO I GET MY TAX RECEIPT?
Yes, all donations to MAZON Canada over $10 are tax-deductible! If you donate online, you will be issued a receipt immediately. All other gifts are receipted in one single tax receipt for your convenience in February of the next calendar year (in time for tax season). You can choose if you prefer your receipt by email or post.
DO YOU ONLY FUND JEWISH AGENCIES & ORGANIZATIONS?
No, food projects DO NOT need to be Jewish to receive grants from MAZON Canada. We’re proud to support any and all people in need on behalf of our Jewish community.
WHAT KINDS OF PROJECTS DO YOU FUND?
MAZON funds food projects across Canada including, but not limited to, food banks, shelters, community gardens, meals on wheels projects, school food programs, and more. In 2022, Mazon Canada partnered with 262 programs across the country - helping them to buy food, grow gardens, and purchase broken or inadequate kitchen equipment (like fridges and freezers).
WHAT IS JEWISH ABOUT MAZON CANADA IF YOU ALSO FUND NON-JEWISH PROJECTS?
We represent our Jewish community by doing work motivated by Jewish values. As a representative of our community, we are funded nearly exclusively by Jewish people and family foundations, occasionally by Jewish-owned businesses or gifts in honour of Jewish people, and almost never by public funds. In short, we are a grassroots network of Jewish people and close allies who pool resources to combat an issue close to our hearts: hunger.
We’re proud to do the important work of bridging Jewish and non-Jewish communities in Canada, sometimes over great distances, through acts of chesed (lovingkindness) and tzedakah (justice-fueled charity). In many cases, support from MAZON Canada is the only contact many staff and clients of our partners have had with Jewish people! Our logo, a Magen David (six-pointed star, a symbol of the Jewish people) is displayed in non-Jewish communities all over the country as a symbol of our partnership and support.
IS MAZON CANADA A FOOD BANK?
No. A food bank provides food. MAZON Canada provides resources to food banks and other front-line organizations battling hunger. Instead of duplicating work that others are already doing and competing with them for resources, we help those organizations achieve their goals and grow.
HOW DOES MAZON DECIDE WHICH ORGANIZATIONS WILL RECEIVE FUNDING?
MAZON’s allocations are decided by an experienced volunteer committee of community members. Our committee includes people with all kinds of backgrounds and experiences: non-profit managers, policy-makers, front-line poverty-relief professionals, financial experts, dieticians, and people with lived experience of food insecurity.
MAZON prioritizes small, low-capital agencies which deal directly with food insecure people; which target specific groups in need, such as single-parent families, Indigenous people, refugees, etc; which are grassroots in their sources of funding and in their volunteer presence; and which work to end hunger at the root through policy change or through leveraging programs to end their clients’ dependence on them. Click here for more information on our granting criteria.
CAN DONATIONS BE DIRECTED TO A SPECIFIC RECIPIENT ORGANIZATION OR REGION?
With a gifts of $2,500 or more, you can sponsor a community. Occasionally, we run campaigns directed towards specific areas of need. Otherwise, please know our expert staff are allocating your your donations to the area of most urgent need!