Small Toronto business sends baby food to parents struggling amid pandemic

Baby food business helps families during pandemic A Toronto baby food business is lending a helping hand to families affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

TORONTO — A small baby food start-up in Toronto is making a big difference for moms and babies across the country amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Fragola, a small baby food start-up in North York, is sending families free baby food to help those who have recently lost their jobs due to the health crisis.

"I posted a post on Instagram that said: 'Hey, anybody who's in need right now, who's having trouble, who’s jobs got laid off due to the pandemic, who are at home ill, we'd love to send you a box of free baby food,'" founder Augustina Valenza told CTV News Toronto on Monday.

Valenza says she got the idea a month ago when a friend told her he would have to lay off more than a 100 employees due to restaurant closures.

"I think it was like 3 a.m. in the morning and it just sprung in my mind,” she said. “There are lots of people who are going to be losing their jobs and not only can't afford to go stock-up on stuff, but the shelves at the grocery stores are very bare right now."

Valenza, who founded the fresh baby food delivery service in 2017, said she went on to encourage other companies to also offer free baby food.

"I posted … and then the next morning at around 10 a.m. hundreds of people were reposting the story," she said.

Valenza says she had no strategy or grand plan, and certainly had no idea how many people she would reach. However, in the last month she's received countless heartbreaking messages from parents pleading for help.

"It's definitely been challenging reading some of the messages … people sending screen grabs of their bank statements to show just the difficult times they're in," she said.

She said one woman messaged her saying she’s been struggling to provide food for herself and her son.

"I literally made banana bread out of my rotten bananas the other day and that's all I ate for three days because I don't want to eat the fruit or vegetables because I have to make baby food and feed my son,” the woman wrote.

Valenza said she's been overwhelmed by peoples’ willingness to help, including a woman who donated $170 dollars, saying “proudly raised by a single, working-class mum so it was my pleasure to pay it forward.”

Valenza said receiving messages from people willing to help is heartwarming.

"It makes you remember that there are so many kind people out there, and it just makes you feel good,” she said.

Since she launched this initiative mid-March, Valenza said she has had to hire 15 additional people, and has added on an extra day of production to keep up with demand.

"Starting a company, a self-funded company is really challenging to do and there were many days when I wanted to give up,” she said. "Then when something like this happens … when you're able to help so many people and it's all worth it."

So far, Fragola has been able to send baby and toddler food to more than a thousand families and to communities as far away as British Columbia.