“It’s definitely one of those full circle moments.”
Justin “J Morris” Gunderson says donating to The Door Youth Centre for his holiday Hip Hop Food Drive reminds him of his teenage years when he had meals at The Door. Now, the local artist and organizer is fundraising for the community centre that helped him gain better footing in his youth.
“I was living on my own, you know, I worked a job, but I couldn’t afford to make ends meet at every end, so wherever I could get help, I took it at the time and food banks were just a thing that made sense,” Gunderson says.
J Morris. Photo provided.
The hip hop artist and award-winning radio host says the food bank and community centre supported him and other kids in the Chinatown community.
“I would always be coming back with boxes of food and see how happy my mom was—probably made it easier for her—and I didn’t even realize back then those experiences just tie into what I do here.”
Gunderson is the organizer and host of the Hip Hop Food Drive for a ninth year, now taking place in nine Canadian cities. It’s an opportunity to give back during the holidays, but this year it also includes an event paying tribute to a musical genre celebrating 50 years on the airwaves.
“I’m a hip hop artist myself … I just took my passion for music and my experience with going to food banks, and put the two together to help give back. I feel like as an artist you have to do that, to always try to give back and inspire others to do the same, so it’s important for me to do, just for myself, but also to help everybody else.”
The all-ages event at the Rainbow Bistro on Dec. 21 will feature beats and performances by Zoo Legacy, Miss McLeod, Hevve, Cult Classicko, VSN, J.V, Concreterose Ladon, Circabeatz, and a freestyle circle from Cap City Cyphers. Photos with Santa will be available by RSVP, thanks to a partnership with the BIPOC organization Colour Me Christmas.
“There’ll be little plushie Santas for sale and the profit from those plushies from Colour Me Christmas will go to the food drive as well—that’s all happening under one roof.”
With Canadians turning to food banks nearly twice as much this year compared to pre-pandemic use according to a report from Food Banks Canada, Gunderson says monetary donations are one way people can offer more support.
“People are having a hard time surviving, so people don’t even have the food to donate sometimes, right? But, I started doing the monetary donation side as soon as I heard from many food banks that the dollar stretches longer and they get more value out of money versus the actual non-perishable food items.”
Starting in Toronto, the Hip Hop Food Drive has expanded to Halifax, London, Kingston, Ottawa, Gatineau, Saskatoon, Calgary, and Vancouver. Gunderson says the plan is to watch the initiative grow, since each year he hopes to add another Canadian city to the fundraising tour.
“I think just knowing that it’s not going to one person; this is going to help lots of families across Canada. It’s going to nine communities and will make a difference, so any dollar amount that can be donated helps.”
The Ottawa Hip Hop Food Drive event is on Dec. 21 at 7pm at the Rainbow Bistro. Admission is $15 or $10 plus a non-perishable food item. Additional donations are accepted now until the event and can be made by email at hiphopfooddrive@gmail.com or online.
Gunderson has also curated the Dec. 20 Apt613 #ottmusic weekly playlist on Spotify, featuring all of the artists who are performing at the Ottawa show. Check it out next week.
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