Helping neighbours in need is a community effort. Here at The Food Bank of Waterloo Region, we couldn’t support our community the way we do without the incredible generosity of companies like Google.

Google has donated essential tools for our distribution centre, including a pallet jack for the warehouse, platform carts for our Engagement program, and digital scales for our Fresh Approaches Food Centre. They also run an employee giving program that allows their staff to support The Food Bank and other non-profits year-round, with Google matching their gifts dollar for dollar. This means every dollar donated to The Food Bank by a Googler provides four meals—double the usual amount—for people in need! To encourage participation in the program, Google hosts a holiday giving campaign each winter, featuring fun events like bake-offs.

In addition to matching financial gifts made by staff, Google donates funds through their GoogleServe program to match the time their employees spend volunteering at charitable organizations. Each summer, they actively promote this program by organizing numerous group volunteering events, including some at The Food Bank.

“The idea with both of these programs is to get you started, make you aware that they exist, and, in theory, encourage you to keep doing it,” explains Ann Zimmer, a software developer, who has been working at the Google Waterloo office for 10 years and helps run the holiday giving campaign and GoogleServe events. “We have many employees who donate a portion of every paycheque directly to their favourite charities, and others who volunteer consistently throughout the year.”

Since 2022, 10 Google groups have volunteered at The Food Bank’s distribution centre through our Engagement program, sorting non-perishable food from community food drives and local grocery stores into organized categories. Altogether, these groups have sorted 28,745 pounds of non-perishable food!

“It’s always fun,” Ann says. “We always bring enough people to form two teams because we’re Googlers, and we’re very competitive.”

While onsite, each Google group has also received a guided tour of The Food Bank’s warehouse, gaining a deeper understanding of our operations and how we support the community.

“One of the things that was probably most surprising to me was the cold food,” Ann recalls. “I don’t know why but I always assumed that The Food Bank was shelf-stable foods. I was also surprised by the types of food people donated. It was such variety. Like cake mixes. I would’ve never thought to donate that, but I can see why it would be useful. People do need to celebrate birthdays.”

For Ann, the most rewarding part about supporting The Food Bank alongside her fellow Googlers is knowing that people in need are going to have a healthier meal.

“Going in and helping sort is fun and it gives you a little bit of a high because we just sorted 3,000 pounds of food in two hours,” she says. “But if you think about it, we just sorted 3,000 pounds of food that’s going to go out and feed somebody and help somebody’s family have a better night. That’s incredible.”

We’re so grateful to Google and their staff for all the ways they support our work. Since 2013, their ongoing support has helped provide more than 1.4 million meals for people in need!

Thank you, Google, for helping us ensure that no one in Waterloo region experiences hunger. Your commitment is a shining example of corporate social responsibility and community leadership.

To implement a corporate matching program at your business, contact Sarah Worthen, our development manager, at sarahw@thefoodbank.ca.

Want to volunteer as a corporate group? View our corporate volunteer opportunities.