OUR CORE VALUES

Inclusiveness and Respect

We value diversity and inclusion. We embrace a culture where everyone is welcome and treated with respect, dignity, compassion, and kindness.

Innovation

We seek continuous improvement and change through innovation. We use technology and partnerships to increase our efficiency and effectiveness.

Accountability

We value transparency and take responsibility for our performance and hold ourselves accountable for achieving the greatest possible impact with the resources entrusted to us.

Collaborations

We are dedicated to understanding, learning, educating and working cooperatively with our team and community partners who share common visions.

Our Story

The Orangeville Food Bank (OFB) was founded in 1992 and some founders are still part of the volunteering team today. The OFB has 120+ regular volunteers and many more during the holidays with church and community service groups and sports teams. With the growing need in the community, we hired an Executive Director four years ago and recently hired a Food Manager, so that we could be open to clients more often and develop more community partnerships.

Our Shopping Model allows clients to shop for their own grocery items, choosing foods they know their family will consume. This in turn provides greater dignity in their visit, leads to less waste and reduces the stigma associated with receiving an unknown food ‘hamper’.

We typically see between 650-700 people each month.  Of that 37% are children and women make up another 30% of those served. largest increase we have seen is seniors needing to access food.  Since 2011 we have seen over a 1000% increase in the number of seniors needing support. In our last year we took in 393,000 pounds in community donations, local grocery bin collections and food drives as well as from our hub in Waterloo.

Orangeville’s first discussions on creating a food bank started as far back as November 8, 1991 at the Mill Street Mall in the Mall Management Office. A group of concerned citizens recognized the need to help the hungry. When the Orangeville Food Bank (OFB) opened its doors on May 23, 1992 its main focus was emergency food relief for members of the community who were in need of assistance due to loss of income, personal injury or other crisis.

In November of 1991 our space to house the food bank was donated. We only paid the maintenance, utilities and taxes. In 1997 the building was purchased and we started paying rent at $558.22 a month. That warehouse unit on Centennial Rd was 3,600 square feet. Approximately 2,500 of this space was utilized for the warehouse stock and the remaining space was used for office, waiting room and washrooms. We paid approximately $4000 a month (rent, utilities, and insurance). Back in 1992 we started out with 160 orders. Today we are filling 1,776 orders over a year.