Overview
Le Mercaz was founded in 1993 to provide food, clothing and furniture to new Jewish immigrants and families living on low incomes. Since its inception, Le Mercaz has helped meet the basic needs of thousands of families in our community. Today, with the advent of low-cost clothing stores and the proliferation of thrift shops, Le Mercaz is devoting all its energies to collection and distribution of kosher food.

More than 17,000 people in Montreal's Jewish community live below the poverty line. For many, inadequate food and malnutrition are a disturbing reality. In our society, food is plentiful. Most of us take for granted the abundance of food in supermarkets and restaurants; we don't doubt that we will find the means to provide ourselves and our families with regular well-balanced meals. But for many, skipping meals to pay bills or buy medicine, saving scraps of food to have enough to eat during the day, and living with hunger is a daily occurrence. Access to kosher food is more challenging. Jewish Family Services, through Le Mercaz, will ensure that those in the community who cannot afford kosher food have access to it.