Seniors Food Insecurity Awareness

My name is Karen Elizabeth Leary. Some of you know me as Karen (and I am a Karen but one of the good ones - ok not always but sometimes you need that “other”Karen - right?) and some of you know me as Elizabeth ( due to the constant on line bullying of anyone named Karen).

I am going to walk from my home in midtown Toronto to Ottawa to raise awareness and help combat food insecurity among seniors. I am a senior and I see daily the struggle of seniors trying to get healthy nutritious food and failing to do so because they don’t have the money to buy nutritious food or they can’t get out to stores to buy it, or even get to a food bank and they may not have a phone, they are not able to use technology, they might have no immediate family or support network. One thing I have learned - is that those who have rarely see those who do not, even when they live next door.

The health of seniors is directly related to the nutritional quality of the food they eat. In my seniors rental building we have set up a small pantry that is accessible to all seniors, the food in it is donated by other tenants and sometimes by local businesses. Sadly, although this food helps, we still fall short.

We owe a lot to some incredible volunteers - Walter, who single handedly got us a freezer so we could store bread. Novi who carted food home from a food bank for us. Daniel and Aerie Gershon who have for several years donated bread and bagels to our building.

I have approached bigger organizations for assistance but get turned away because we are not a “charity or not for profit group”.

My goals with this walk are as follows:

1) to raise awareness of just how many seniors are food insecure and how the lack of nutrition affects their health. On my journey I will talk to Mayors, Councilors, folks on the street, in coffee shops and anywhere a conversation can happen. The more people talking about this and thinking about this the better.

This walk is about 500 km and I’m bringing my chihuahua Pez with me! Pez is a great conversation starter, he’s not too crazee about camping and he doesn’t want to sleep in any ditches but other than that, he’s gung ho!

2) To have enough money to register our group as a “not for profit” so we can benefit from being associated with larger groups of like minded people. That costs money.

3) To buy a fridge so we can safely store eggs, milk and other food that requires refrigeration and that people can access as needed 24/7

4) To supply our building with a winters worth of really fresh, healthy and nutritious food.

I am a 72 year old heart attack, stroke and covid survivor and I am travelling with a very judgmental 12 year old chihuahua.

If you see us on our journey, walk with us awhile, talk with us awhile! We depart midtown on May 1, 2024 and if you can’t join us, you can follow us on

Tik Tok (oldladywalking2) or on

YouTube (@oldladywalking) or on

my Facebook page (Elizabeth Leary).

Help feed geezers! Turn back that Boomer death clock!

You know - you can’t fix old but you can make it easier and for sure healthier!! Please donate and for sure -share this.