{"id":26811,"date":"2020-06-18T19:24:25","date_gmt":"2020-06-18T23:24:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/?p=26811"},"modified":"2020-06-18T19:24:32","modified_gmt":"2020-06-18T23:24:32","slug":"50-for-50-challenge-benefits-local-food-programs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/50-for-50-challenge-benefits-local-food-programs\/","title":{"rendered":"$50 for 50 challenge benefits local food programs"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

As summer inches closer and restrictions lift, more and\nmore people are hopping on their bikes and hitting the trails to get some sun\nand have some fun.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, while you\u2019re out getting exercise and enjoying the\nfresh air, why not do so to help your community?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This week, the Aurora-based York Region Food Network\n(YRFN) and Vaughan\u2019s Amdur Bicycles teamed up to launch the\n#50for50CycleChallenge, a fundraising campaign to have a positive impact on\nfood security and environmental sustainability throughout York Region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Set to take place between June 28 and July 4, the\n#50for50CyclingChallenge will ask participants to commit to ride 50 km on their\nbikes between that window, donate $50 to the cause, and share photos on social\nmedia using the hashtag in order to spread the word and encourage others to do\nthe same.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOne of our business\u2019s main values is sustainability,\u201d\nsays Miriam Amdur, co-owner of Amdur Bicycles, which buys and sells used\nhigh-end bikes. \u201cOurs is a sustainable business and knowing the YRFN was under\na lot of pressure because of COVID-19 and their services are in really high\ndemand at this time, we felt this would be a great partnership. They have\nsimilar values to our business and we\u2019re really looking forward to helping them\nas well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFrom a personal standpoint, I was always interested in\nwhat the York Region Food Network is doing. They are really leaders in the\ncommunity when it comes to food security and as a leader in this business, I\nhave aligned my interests with what is going on in the community as well.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When Amdur Bicycles approached the York Region Food\nNetwork with their fundraising idea, Executive Director Kate Greavette says she\nwas not only excited for the possibilities but grateful at the opportunity to\nincrease the sustainability of ongoing community food programs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe have been finding that throughout the duration of\nCOVID, demand for our services has increased dramatically, so we\u2019re acquiring\nmore resources just to make things happen,\u201d she says. \u201cSince March 16, we have\nproduced 3,500 ready-to-eat meals that have been distributed to people who\naren\u2019t able to leave their homes now. We have served 611 takeaway breakfasts on\nTuesday mornings, distributed $16,500 in grocery gift cards to folks in the\ncommunity, and we have also distributed over 1,300 Good Food boxes \u2013 the stats\nfor what we have done in a year in ten weeks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere has been a little more stress on us to make sure we\nhave adequate budgets for food, for packaging, just to make sure we can serve\nthe community. This is just a great opportunity to let people know what we\u2019re\ndoing, let people showcase this great young bicycle company and the green\npractices they are really promoting and be able to get outside and do something\nactive when there\u2019s just not too much available right now.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A $50 contribution might not seem like a lot, but it\nmakes a big difference for the YRFN. According to Ms. Greavette, $50 can\nprovide for three-and-a-half Good Food boxes for clients in need and based on\nhow they prepare their meals in-house, $50 can help to complete nearly 20\nindividual ready-to-eat meals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019re really conscious about supporting local as much as\npossible and now that we are in the growing season we are putting as many\ndollars we can back into local farmers, processers and suppliers,\u201d she says.\n\u201cOur focus is to keep the funds in the community as much as possible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere\u2019s quite a lot of older adults who have reached out\nlooking for services, a lot of people who are not able to leave their homes and\ndon\u2019t necessarily have the social networks to rely on for grocery and meal\ndeliveries. We have a lot of people who, because they are at home now, there\nare a lot of mouths to feed because they are no longer supported by breakfast\nprograms [and] any extra support is really, really helpful right now. A lot of\npeople have been laid off and are tightening their purse strings and accessing\nour services [and that] has been proven to be beneficial.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis is a great way when we have to spend more time at\nhome and in our communities to stay active and make a difference while we\u2019re\napart,\u201d adds Ms. Amdur. \u201cOne of our slogans is to be together while we\u2019re apart\nand I think that cycling is an activity that embodies that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Timing, notes Ms. Greavette, is everything. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFor a family, your challenge over the week is to ride up\nto 50 km,\u201d she notes. \u201cYou can do it in a day or across multiple days. It\u2019s\nsomething to look forward to and, as an individual, you can do it with others\nin a physically distant way quite easily, but it is a great way to support some\nof the food access initiatives that have been supporting the community,\nsupporting farmers, and making sure we can purchase local and good quality fruits\nand veggies.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For more information on how to take part in the #50for50CycleChallenge, visit amdurbicycles.com\/events.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By Brock Weir<\/strong><\/p>\n\r\n\"Facebook\"<\/a>\"twitter\"<\/a>\"mail\"<\/a>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As summer inches closer and restrictions lift, more and more people are hopping on their bikes and hitting the trails to get some sun and have some fun. So, while you\u2019re out getting exercise and enjoying the fresh air, why not do so to help your community? This week, the Aurora-based York Region Food Network […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[4,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-26811","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general_news","category-news"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3D2k4-6Yr","publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-22 16:08:15","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26811","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26811"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26811\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26811"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26811"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26811"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}