Good Neighbor Podcast: Mississauga

From Street Ministry to Serving 2,000 Weekly: Garth Soso's Mission

• Alanja Simmons

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What happens when faith meets food security? Garth Soso answers this question through his remarkable journey with Soso World Ministries. This organization has transformed from serving 30 people to supporting 2,000 weekly clients across 14 food banks in the Greater Toronto Area.

The conversation shatters common misconceptions about food bank users. "The demographics have changed," Garth reveals, explaining how employed people with mortgages and cars now rely on food banks to offset inflation and rising living costs. This shift highlights a growing reality - food insecurity touches many more lives than we might expect. With the money saved on groceries, these families can better manage their mounting bills and expenses.

So, with over 110,000 residents, many of whom rely on the organization, targets explicitly Toronto Community Housing residents - Canada's largest property ownership group, with over 110,000 residents, many relying on government assistance programs that often run dry after the first week of each month. Behind this operation stands a team of 130 dedicated volunteers who embody Soso's faith-based approach of serving "with a loving heart." His mission began during street ministry in downtown Toronto, where he recognized that many people requiring support weren't homeless but rather housing residents needing additional resources.

Looking to make a difference in your community? Soso World Ministries welcomes volunteers of all backgrounds, including high school students seeking community hours and retirees wanting to give back. Visit sosoworldministries.com or find them on Instagram to learn how you can join their mission of bringing food security to those who need it most in the spirit of humility and compassion.

Intro :

This is the Good Neighbor Podcast, the place where local businesses and neighbour's come together. Here's your host, Alanja Simmons.

Alanja Simmons :

Welcome to the Good Neighbor Podcast. Are you in need of a food security organization? One might be close to the new thing. Today I have the pleasure of introducing your good neighbour, Garth Soso, with Soso World Ministries. Garth, how are you doing?

Garth Simmons:

I'm doing well. Thank you for asking, and I'm excited to get started.

Alanja Simmons :

Well, we're excited to learn about you and your business. Tell us about your company, Soso World Ministries.

Garth Simmons:

Okay, uh, as you mentioned, we're a food security organization. Uh, we're mainly based in Scarborough, and uh what we do is that uh we provide um food bank donations to the the residents of Scarborough. So currently we have 14 food banks throughout uh the GTA, and we mainly service Toronto Community Housing residents and the surrounding communities. Um we are right now serving 2,000 clients on a weekly basis, and we are growing. We employ um uh about 130 volunteers, uh a really great team, very loyal team that we use to really um uh spread the uh uh the good fortunes of food bank donations um on a weekly basis.

Alanja Simmons :

And how did you get into this business?

Garth Simmons:

Uh so this really started uh really uh through a call of my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, where um I was doing some street ministry in downtown Toronto, and um I noticed that uh those that we were serving were not necessarily homeless, um, but there were residents of Toronto Community Housing who are in need of um extra food, extra clothing. So uh because of that insight, I started my own charity and my own organization, really focusing on Toronto Community Housing. And uh we started off in Scarborough where uh it was just the initial uh food program where we were serving 30 people per week, and it's now grown over the last uh nine, 10 years, because we started in 2016 to now serving 2,000 clients on a weekly basis.

Alanja Simmons :

And what are some of some of the myths and myths and misconceptions in your industry?

Garth Simmons:

Uh so I think one of the biggest biggest misconceptions is that uh those who come to the food bank um are uh those who are destitute and and you know low income can't afford groceries, and and that's just not the case any longer. Um I think that uh the demographics have changed over the last uh several years, where there are people who are um employed, uh those that have mortgages, those have who drive nice cars. Um and I think because of the inflation and the cost of living, uh people are just looking to save money and to be able to spend extra money on their um on their bills. And so one way uh they can do that is through the food bank. They get the free food for the week, and then they can spend money, extra money on their bills.

Alanja Simmons :

And we know marketing is at the heart of every business. So who are your target customers and how do you attract them?

Garth Simmons:

Right. Uh so um our target target customers are uh mainly Toronto community housing residents, and uh Toronto Community Housing is the largest property owner in all of Canada. I think they have about over 11,000 properties uh throughout the uh the GTA and uh over 110,000 uh um uh residents, and uh most of them are um of low income uh in terms of either on uh uh Ontario works like government assistance or ODSP. So they have limited the limited income, and um so a lot of times uh by the first you know, by the first week, a lot of their uh uh income has been spent, and it that becomes a struggle for the next three weeks in terms of uh feeding themselves and and um and sometimes even clothing themselves.

Alanja Simmons :

And have you ever thought about doing your own podcasts?

Garth Simmons:

Uh no, I it's never occurred to me, um uh but you certainly are providing some inspiration. Uh um I do have a son that has a a podcast, and um he's uh he's uh he's uh a bit of an inspiration as well, too. And but he's he's he's he's a natural talent in terms of um he's got he's got natural charisma, which I certainly do not.

Alanja Simmons :

Well, Garth, outside of work, what do you do for fun?

Garth Simmons:

Um so outside of work, well, you know, this is really a um, you know, a real love affair in terms of this is something that I do on a full-time basis. But outside of this, um I have a family. I'm married and I have two kids. Uh um, although my kids are are grown, um, I spend a lot of time uh with my family. We we eat together, we hang out together. Um, and uh other than that, I I really just try and keep it simple. I I really uh try and seek the Lord as as much as I can. Um and uh I I am a big basketball fan in terms of the rappers as well.

Alanja Simmons :

Well, Garth, please tell our listeners one thing that you remember about So So World Ministries.

Garth Simmons:

Uh oh yeah, that's that's a that's a good question. Uh I think I think one of the things I want I want people to know is that uh we really try and serve the community uh with a loving heart, and we try to emulate uh the Lord Jesus in terms of uh He always gave and and gave with a humble spirit and a loving spirit, and we try and uh emulate that by doing the same as well, too.

Alanja Simmons :

And how can our listeners learn more about social world ministries?

Garth Simmons:

Um sure. Um uh of course we have a website, sosoworldministries .com. We're also on Instagram, I think it's social world mini uh at social world ministries. I don't know much about Instagram, I don't run it, uh, but you can find us there as well. And if you live in the Scarborough area, uh you can certainly look us up. We are uh on on Google as well, too, and can find a lot of information. We're always looking for new volunteers. If you have uh high school kids that are looking for their hours, uh their 40 hours, um, we have a lot of volunteer space that they can come and learn and give back to the community. Or if you yourselves uh are interested in giving back to the community, maybe you're retired, uh, you know, maybe you you might be looking for something else to do to give back, uh, please look us up and we will uh open up our doors for you in terms of volunteer experience.

Alanja Simmons :

Well, Garth, I really appreciate you being on the show, and we wish you and Social World Ministries the best moving forward.

Garth Simmons:

Thank you so much, Alanja. It was really a pleasure being here, and I thank you for the opportunity to uh promote our organization. Thank you so much.

Ontro:

Thank you for listening to the Good Neighbor Podcast. To nominate your favorite local businesses to be featured on the show, go to gnpmississauga.com. That's gmpmississauga.com or call 365-362-5780.