Sharing an update from the Ottawa Food Bank:
The Ottawa Food Bank itself has not lost power so our fresh and frozen food is not affected, although our phone lines are currently down. We hope to have the phones up first thing tomorrow as we expect to receive calls from many partners and individuals needing food.
We have reached out to all of the Community Food Banks in the city to assess where there is a loss of food at agencies. We are waiting to hear back from all our partners to determine next steps. Depending on the continued power outages, we will be planning to get replacement food out as quickly as possible both to agencies and individuals. If you are connecting with your local food bank and they have issues with supply, please encourage them to reach out to any of the team at Ottawa Food Bank. We have also connected with Ottawa Community Housing to begin to identify and deliver food to affected buildings. We also have connected with the HNTF and other emergency food providers to ensure a continued collective response for food security.
Here is some information to help you and your constituents should they need food assistance:
- If you meet neighbours who are in need of food assistance, they can call 211. Once we have out phone lines confirmed up and running, they can call our office as well and we can re-direct them to their local food program.
- Any time some needs food, we have a look up tool on our website (may not be as useful currently without power). Based on your postal code, you can find your local food program and the hours of service.
- The Ottawa Food Bank continues to provide home deliveries in partnership with Ottawa Cares, the network of agencies, and our own deliveries. If someone is in need of a home delivery, they should try their local Community Food Bank first. If their local food program is not able to do home deliveries, they will be redirected to the Ottawa Food Bank for assistance.
The leadership team at the Ottawa Food Bank will be in our warehouse tomorrow working to get food out as quickly as we can. We hope you are all safe. We will work together to ensure everyone in the city has access to the food supports they need.
All the best,
Rachael Wilson (She/Her/Elle)
Chief Executive Officer/Présidente-directrice générale (PDG)