Out of office: An afternoon at Harmony Community Food Centre

For Manulife employee Ameel Baig, April 25 wasn’t like any other work day. His morning began like usual—with coffee and emails—but as the afternoon neared, he closed his laptop and headed to Harmony Community Food Centre (CFC) in East York, ON. There, he was joined by one of his teammates, Karim, who he was also meeting in person for the first time.

Each year, Manulife enables every staff member to volunteer for a day at a non-profit. Ameel and Karim were among 17 employees who chose to volunteer at either Harmony CFC or The Depot CFC, two of our partner CFCs.

This was how Ameel and Karim found themselves in a cooking workshop, making a chocolate cake and connecting over food.

The workshop also involved a little friendly competition. The participants split into two groups. One group made their cake using a pre-made baking mix. Ameel was in the other group, which made their cake with raw ingredients.

So how did the cakes compare? “We couldn’t beat the sweeter and more moist version of the pre-prepared mix,” Ameel recalls. “But it was more fun, educational, and cheaper to do it ourselves. I’m sure we could be on par or better after a couple of more tries!”

For Ameel, the activity even turned out to be a full-circle moment. As a child, he immigrated from Pakistan to Canada with his family. In Toronto, his family eventually started a restaurant that served Pakistani food. And like so many kids in immigrant restaurateur families, Ameel worked at the restaurant.

“I would go with my father to the food terminals to pick up fresh produce, and bring it back to the restaurant and prepare dishes. We built the restaurant’s reputation by telling our customers that we don’t buy ready-made sauces and that we do things in-house.” 

Ameel’s early experiences in the food industry helped spark an interest in food security. But it wasn’t only those food-related experiences that made him volunteer at Harmony CFC. He was also inspired by childhood memories of something else: a community centre that reached out and helped his family.

“I remember it very vividly. It was Christmas. My family, we weren’t that well off then. And a community centre delivered gifts to our home. The experience really stuck with me.”

In volunteering at a CFC, Ameel found that he received so much in return. Even more than he would have expected. Among the community members he met that day were people from refugee backgrounds. He realized: “You never know what kind of background someone might have or what kind of problems they may be facing.”

“With a couple of people, we even exchanged numbers. We still message and say, ‘Hey, what’s up? How’s everyone doing?’ I learned a couple of people’s stories—and educated myself.” 

Manulife proudly supports CFCC’s impact in communities across Canada, in alignment with Manulife’s Impact Agenda and commitment to empowering sustained health and well-being.

To support CFCC’s work, contact Anika Austrie, Director, Community Giving and Development Operations (anika@cfccanada.ca).