Food Sourcing + Fresh food

Perishable and

non-perishable

Thanks to ongoing Community run fundraisers and the generosity of our donors, we manage to keep our shelves stocked. Supplies begin to dwindle around late spring and early summer and when supplies are low with our standard items we turn to the cash donated to purchase healthy food items.

We source perishable foods from our community partners as well. Bread comes from two local grocery store partners and many other perishable items like meat and frozen entrees come from another local grocery store partner. We currently harvest from our 50′ x 50′ community garden at Edelbrock Centre. The garden is seeded, cared for and harvested by our volunteers to bring in even more fresh produce when in season. We are also supported by donors who have surplus produce from their personal gardens.

With donated funds we purchase foods for our Kid’s Zone, an area where families can access extra foods for their children. This area includes: cheese sticks, yogurt, carrot sticks, oranges, apples, etc.

Every client is entitled to milk, eggs, potatoes, carrots, onions, apples, bread, and frozen perishables. Our focus is to provide as many healthy food choices as we are able. We recently invested in a walk-in fridge and freezer in order to accommodate as many perishable donations as we are offered so that we might double the amount of healthy food available to clients.

We joined the Ontario Association of Food Banks, now Feed Ontario, in June 1994, and by association we became a member of Food Banks Canada (FBC). Being an Feed Ontario member gives us access to food sources we normally wouldn’t have. We are also members of the Waterloo Food Assistance Network and benefit from monthly deliveries of perishable foods including frozen proteins and vegetables. From our association with Feed Ontario and Food Banks Canada, we benefit from egg and milk program support as well as annual chicken, beef and turkey programs.