Here's where to find a community fridge or pantry in Ottawa
The rising cost of food has hit many hard, but for those already on a strict budget, there’s a community fridge and pantry to turn to.
Just in front of the Parkdale Food Centre is a colourful box, which at first glance looks almost like a shed. Open the doors, and you’ll find a fridge and pantry.
“Basically, we run it by the rule of ‘take what you need, leave what you can,’” says Megan Aubin, Ottawa Community Food Partnership Coordinator. “It’s not policed, so anyone can access it. It’s open 24/7 and it’s free food, essentially. That’s the main thing with it.”
Aubin says there are regular users and it empties quickly.
“We fill it three to four times a day, and pretty much as soon as it’s filled, it’s emptied. People do donate to it once in a while, but primarily we are filling it up ourselves,” she says.
“With the rise in food costs, I can’t afford to go to the grocery store and buy, let’s say a chicken,” says community fridge and pantry user, Troy Stewart.
Stewart, who also works part-time at the Parkdale Food Centre, helping others make the most of their groceries, is on the Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP) and says he makes every dollar count.
“You’ve got places that are raising the rent, but you’re not getting any extra money for help, so where’s the money coming from? It comes from your food budget, ‘cause you have to pay your other bills.”
He says he relies on services like the Ottawa Food Bank, the Parkdale Food Centre, and friends for groceries.
“This is becoming a hard reality for everybody that is at or below the poverty line, and it’s scary.”
A second outdoor community fridge and pantry opened in October on MacLaren Street, just west of Bank Street. Organizers of that location tell CTV News Ottawa that churches, the community, restaurants, grocery stores, and individuals stock it.
The community fridge and pantry on MacLaren Street. (Peter Szperling/CTV News Ottawa)
A sign inside the fridge says, “Open to all residents of Centretown. Take what you need, leave some for others.”
The Ottawa Community Food Partnership has several indoor community fridges and pantries throughout the city.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
BREAKING NEWS Honda to get up to $5B in govt help for EV battery, assembly plants
Honda is set to build an electric vehicle battery plant next to its Alliston, Ont., assembly plant, which it is retooling to produce fully electric vehicles, all part of a $15-billion project that is expected to include up to $5 billion in public money.
BREAKING New York appeals court overturns Harvey Weinstein's 2020 rape conviction from landmark #MeToo trial
New York’s highest court on Thursday overturned Harvey Weinstein’s 2020 rape conviction, finding the judge at the landmark #MeToo trial prejudiced the ex-movie mogul with improper rulings, including a decision to let women testify about allegations that weren’t part of the case.
Residents of northern Alberta First Nation told to shelter in place
Residents of John D'Or Prairie, a community on the Little Red River Cree Nation in northern Alberta, were told to take shelter Thursday morning during a police operation.
Monthly earnings rise, payroll employment falls: jobs report
The number of vacant jobs in Canada increased in February, while monthly payroll employment decreased in food services, manufacturing, and retail trade, among other sectors.
Doctors say capital gains tax changes will jeopardize their retirement. Is that true?
The Canadian Medical Association asserts the Liberals' proposed changes to capital gains taxation will put doctors' retirement savings in jeopardy, but some financial experts insist incorporated professionals are not as doomed as they say they are.
Secret $70M Lotto Max winners break their silence
During a special winner celebration near their hometown, Doug and Enid shared the story of how they discovered they were holding a Lotto Max ticket worth $70 million and how they kept this huge secret for so long.
Remains from a mother-daughter cold case were found nearly 24 years later, after a deathbed confession from the suspect
A West Virginia father is getting some sense of closure after authorities found the remains of his young daughter and her mother following a deathbed confession from the man believed to have fatally shot them nearly two decades ago.
Something in the water? Canadian family latest to spot elusive 'Loch Ness Monster'
For centuries, people have wondered what, if anything, might be lurking beneath the surface of Loch Ness in Scotland. When Canadian couple Parry Malm and Shannon Wiseman visited the Scottish highlands earlier this month with their two children, they didn’t expect to become part of the mystery.
Metro Vancouver mayors call for serial killer Robert Pickton to be denied parole
A dozen mayors from around Metro Vancouver say federal Attorney General and Justice Minister Arif Virani should deny parole for notorious B.C. serial killer Robert Pickton, and reassess the parole and sentencing system for 'prolific offenders and mass murderers.'