News Updates

We will be Closed!

We will be closed for food assistance on Monday, August 6 for the Civic Holiday.

Volunteer Opportunities:The GEFC in partnership with Just Food has a .25 acre plot at the Just Food Farm beside Blackburn Hamlet, as part of the city-wide “Plant-a Row Donate-a-Row” program. We are seeking volunteers to help grow and harvest vegetables for the Food Cupboard – Garden Volunteer Days will be Wednesdays and Sundays. To sign up, please contact Just Food at administration@justfood.ca .

We are also working with Hidden Harvest to gather fruit in the neighbourhood – to become part of the community harvest team and be informed about local harvest events, or to get more information, please sign up here: http://ottawa.hiddenharvest.ca/offer-or-pick/.

Most asked Question!

What are your most needed items?

Check out our list of most needed item. We use all of those items on that list on an ongoing basis, but the items we use most are at or near the top of the list. We update it regularly.

Did You Know …

that we provide a 4-day emergency supply of food (roughly based on Canada’s Food Guide) for families or households in need, every month. In 2016 one in 22 people in our community needed us at least once.

Calling all schools, churches and businesses…

Would you like to hold a food drive on our behalf?  Click here to find out more : How to do a Food Drive?

How Your Donations Help

We understand that you want to better understand how your donations are managed and distributed. At the Gloucester Emergency Food Cupboard, we accept two main types of donations – food and cash donations -, which are entirely redistributed to those in need.

• We continue to accept donations as listed, on our ‘Donate’ page
• Cash and money donations are used to purchase milk, eggs, school snacks, cereal, pasta and canned goods for distribution.
• Your food donations are checked, sorted and put on the shelves for distribution for those in need.
• We are set up so that clients can choose, using a point system, the items that they prefer from each of the food categories. We feel it is important to maintain the ability to make individual choices, and to offer healthy options.
• We have perishable items available, fresh produce (fruits and vegetables), milk, eggs, sliced cheese, every time we distribute food. We use donated monies to purchase milk, eggs and meat.
• Any food items that don’t fit into categories as listed in Canada’s Food Guide are made available for clients in the ‘Food Extras’ section, and do not take any points away from the other food groups.
• Thank you to all of the individuals and groups that donate to us and support us on a regular basis. We appreciate the regular and continued support and value every donation that is made!

Interested in learning more?  Call 613-749-4728, anytime, to arrange a tour or have your questions answered.

Success Story (Names have been changed)

Alice is a single mom with two children. She found herself laid off from her job, so returned to school to train for another career.  During her studies, she worked a part-time job and also had a student loan, but found it very difficult to pay all of her bills and clothe and feed her family.  She was able to come to get food to feed her family until she completed her course of study. She is now looking for full-time employment and is very hopeful that, one day, she will be a donor to the Food Cupboard. Her financial responsibilities have been overwhelming and being able to come for food has helped to ease her financial burden.