FaithWorks tops goal, addresses food insecurity

For the second year in a row, FaithWorks has exceeded its fundraising goal.

The diocese’s annual outreach appeal raised $1,532,000 in 2025. The money will be given to ministries that help unhoused people and ex-prisoners, newcomers and refugees, at-risk women, children and youth, Indigenous people, and those impacted by HIV/AIDS.

Bishop Andrew Asbil says he is amazed by the generosity of Anglicans year after year. “With all of the upset in the world economy, with all of the chatter of communities and nations looking inward, here we have this program that gives so much to people who are in need the most – the vulnerable from the rural communities to the inner city,” he says. “I find it mind-blowing how this kind of generosity makes very effective front-line ministry happen.”

The good news comes as the campaign celebrates its 30^th anniversary this year. Since its inception, it has raised $45 million, helping hundreds of thousands of people in the diocese, across Canada and around the world.

To celebrate the anniversary, FaithWorks is asking parishes to give a little bit more this year to support parish-related food security programs, including food banks. “We’re inundated right now with the need for food,” explains Peter Mentis, the FaithWorks campaign manager.

This year’s campaign is called the FaithWorks 100% +1% Challenge, and the goals are twofold: first, that every parish in the diocese participate; and second, that each parish set a fundraising goal that exceeds their 2025 FaithWorks contributions by at least one per cent of their 2024 offertory amount.

If all parishes participate and achieve their fundraising goals, the campaign will stand a good chance of not only hitting this year’s target of $1.5 million but raising an additional $325,000 for food security programs, says Peter Misiaszek, the diocese’s director of Stewardship Development. The additional money will be put into a special fund earmarked for food programs and dispersed in 2027-28.

Since the pandemic, visits to parish meal programs, deacon’s cupboards, food banks and other food ministries across the diocese have skyrocketed. Mr. Mentis hopes the FaithWorks 100% + 1% Challenge will help alleviate the situation.

“We’re taking inspiration from the multiplication of the loaves and the feeding of the multitude,” he says. “As Jesus fed them, we are called now, in our turn, to feed as well. We’re hoping people will be inspired by that and participate in Jesus’s miracle.”

Bishop Asbil urges all parishes to take up the challenge. “Food insecurity is a daily issue, where families have to make the very painful decision between paying the hydro or paying the rent. It’s becoming a perennial issue, and this initiative helps us address that. It’s an opportunity for Anglicans to show up and say, ‘We can help, we can make a difference.’”

Last year’s FaithWorks campaign had several highlights. Seventy-eight parishes exceeded the amount that they raised in 2024, $150,000 in matching challenges was met, and online and direct mail giving continued to be strong.

One of the reasons for the success is that there has been a transition in the type of ministries that FaithWorks funds, says Mr. Misiaszek. “Seven of our ministry partners now are decidedly parish-based, and another three are very closely associated with the Anglican family, such as Alongside Hope and AURA. It really can be said that we reflect an authentic Anglican United Way, probably more so than ever before. Because we have those profiles in places like St. Stephen in-the-Fields, St. Margaret, New Toronto, St. James, Orillia, and St. James Cathedral, people in the pew can see or hear about how FaithWorks-funded ministries are impacting their own community.”

He also credits Mr. Mentis and parish leaders, both clergy and lay, for the campaign’s ongoing success. “It takes a lot of work by a lot of people. It doesn’t just happen. I’m extremely proud of what Peter and all our volunteers have been able to accomplish.”