WHAT HAPPENS TO YOUR DONATIONS?
The Ottawa Food Bank relies heavily on the donation of non-perishable food items from the public. Whether you place your donation in a red bin at your local grocery store, or in a food drive box at work or a community event, each and every can is vital in the fight against community hunger.
After you make your donation the magic happens!
Our drivers pick up non-perishable food items from grocery stores, offices, and community events on a daily basis. Once back at the warehouse, the donations are unloaded into larger bins to make it easiest for the food to be sorted into categories.
In addition to its army of individual food-sorting volunteers, the Ottawa Food Bank hosts over 150 groups each year. Volunteers come from corporations and local businesses, church and extra-curricular groups, even handfuls of families and friends.
Each item is sorted into one of many categories — peanut butter and jam, soup, pasta, canned vegetables, baby food, household products, snacks, and more — then boxed up to be sent to one of our 140 Member Agencies.
Ottawa Food Bank’s Member Agencies range from grocery hamper programs, soup kitchens and meal programs, women’s shelters, school meal programs, residential and recovery programs, to drop-in centers and street outreach programs.
Member Agencies place a weekly order, requesting cases of food from the aforementioned categories, as well as perishable items like milk, eggs, ground beef, and fresh produce as available.
The agencies’ orders are either delivered or picked up, depending on the program size.
Once at the agency, your donation could be used in a number of ways to help fight community hunger; a family in need may receive a three-day emergency supply of food that includes your macaroni & cheese, soup and cereal, while a large soup kitchen might turn the pasta, sauce and vegetables into a meal for the needy.
However and whatever you donate, rest assured the 45,000 people a month that the Ottawa Food Bank assists are grateful for your support and warm heart.
From everyone at the Ottawa Food Bank, thank you to our supporters for everything you do!
