The Ottawa community was glued to their news channels and Twitter feeds on in early March when we collectively received word that the Novel Coronavirus had reached our city. The nation’s capital was officially part of the global pandemic and our everyday way of life was about to change.
Ottawa, the Ottawa Food Bank, and the network of food programs across the city are no strangers to crisis, having gone through recent tornadoes and floods. However, this time was different. This time, the crisis impacted everyone.
The Ottawa Food Bank’s main role is to work in partnership with the network of 112 emergency food programs across the city to help them get food and supplies to their clients and community. Throughout the course of the pandemic, that role has stayed true – but with a little more innovation, collaboration, and ingenuity.
Key points from the report:
- We could not have done what we have without our member agency network, volunteers, supporters, and donors. THANK YOU to our amazing community.
- Thanks to Ottawa Food Bank donors and partners, we were able to launch a Home Delivery Program from people who are food insecure and truly cannot leave the home. At the time of the report, we had successfully delivered over 1,800 hampers directly to people’s homes.
- Due to the pandemic and the need to provide more food, our distribution of food has gone up by 34%.
- From March to October, the Ottawa Food Bank spent nearly $3 million on emergency pandemic relief efforts including, $1,281,00 in relief funding to the member agencies network.
