About The Sheds

This program was designed as a community food exchange pantry that promotes food security while tackling food waste. The program is structured as a “take what you need and leave what you can” free food initiative. It serves as an elegantly simple solution to community hunger that is open 24/7 and available to everyone.

Shed Culture:

Mutual Aid is at the forefront of Shed Culture. By engaging the community in meaningful volunteer opportunities at the Sheds, they offer compassionate reciprocity to their neighbours; community serving community at a grassroot level. The Sheds are a barrier, judgment and stigma-free food resource for anyone who eats food.

Food Rescue:

Food is rescued daily by Helping Hands volunteers from local food suppliers like grocery stores, bakeries, pharmacies or coffee shops. This food is often bruised or damaged fruit or vegetables that won’t sell at a typical price point, bakery items, prepared deli foods, dairy or other items that are too close to the best before date. We rescue everything and then redirect that food to our two Free Food Sheds.

Our Value Statements:

These statements reflect the core values of the organization, emphasizing empathy, responsibility, inclusivity, collaboration, trust, equality, community connection, and honoring the individuals served:

  • Compassion: We approach every interaction with empathy and a genuine desire to make a positive impact on the lives of those we serve.

  • Responsibility: We take ownership of our role in building a resilient community, ensuring accountability in all our actions and programs.

  • Respect: We treat every individual with dignity, valuing diversity, and fostering an inclusive environment that honors each person’s unique circumstances.

  • Reciprocity: We believe in the power of reciprocal relationships, where both volunteers and those in need benefit from the connections and support forged within our community.

  • Collaboration: We actively seek partnerships and engage in collaborative efforts to maximize our collective impact, recognizing that unity strengthens our ability to serve.

  • Trust: We strive to build and maintain trust within the community, acting with transparency and integrity in all our interactions.

  • Equality: We advocate for fairness and equal access to support, ensuring that our programs are inclusive and available to anyone in need.

  • Connecting Community: We foster a sense of belonging and interconnectedness, encouraging community members to come together and support one another.

  • Honour: We honor the dignity and worth of every individual, acknowledging their strengths and contributions to the community.

Free Food Shed FAQs

It’s our climate creative version of the ‘free fridge’ (#freedge) concept popping up in communities all over the world. It’s a mutual aid space where people take responsibility in caring for one another by redistributing food resources. A public use location for the sharing of food and a food safe location for the collection and distribution of rescued food – free for everyone and always open.

To reduce food waste. This program was designed as a community food exchange pantry that promotes food security while tackling food waste. It serves as an elegantly simple solution to community hunger that is open 24/7 and available to everyone.

Everyone! The program is structured as a “take what you need and leave what you can” free food initiative, that fills unmet gaps and breaks stigmas associated with food insecurity. Our basis for qualification is: anyone who eats food.

Our robust food rescue program and community donations. Restaurants, cafes, bakeries, grocery stores, community members and even farms can all donate to the Sheds and help reduce food waste. Community food exchange program – stocked by and for the community.

All of us! We couldn’t do this alone. Mutual Aid is at the forefront of Shed Culture. By engaging the community in meaningful volunteer opportunities at the Sheds, they offer compassionate reciprocity to their neighbours; community serving community at a grassroot level.

Perfectly good food that was on its way to the garbage is saved from local food suppliers like grocery stores, bakeries, pharmacies or coffee shops. This food is often bruised or damaged fruit or vegetables that won’t sell at a typical price point, surplus bakery items, prepared deli foods, dairy or other items that are too close to the best before date. We rescue everything and then redirect that food to our two Free Food Sheds.

Read more about food rescue here!

We gratefully accept fresh fruit & vegetables, fresh eggs & dairy products, non-perishable pantry items, commercially prepared & packaged meals, breads, pastries & dry goods, grab & go snack items, toiletries, water & juice.

Moldy or expired food (not the same as Best Before – we gratefully accept items past their Best Before Date), anything open or unsealed, raw meat & seafood (unless commercially packaged and previously frozen), home cooked meals, half-eaten meals or snacks, spoiled dairy, severely dented cans.

The Free Food Shed is a Mutual Aid project not a Charity program

Scroll through the slides below to learn more!

Free Food Shed "Abuse." Overuse, Hoarding, Aggression and other Effects of living in survival mode due to unequal wealth distribution. How can we heal together?
Education Understand that the need for hoarding is rooted in fear & a desperation to survive. This is because the things we need to survive are behind a pay wall. Class division deprives us of basic human needs & has worked for generations to do so. Once we understand why the system is built to keep us in poverty, we will understand the negative effects it has on all of Us. Survival of the fittest refers to the collective - not the individual.
Community Building Taking the time to get to know your neighbour adds humanity, empathy and motivation to help each other succeed. Building relationships holds us accountable to one another & reduces conflict by functioning off of a collective need instead of greed. We must break the cycles of aggressive & destructive reactions to our neighbours struggling to survive. We must nurture the wounds of a failed system. Once we feel connected to our neighbour, we are more willing to fight for their survival too.
Community Participation The most important ingredient of Mutual Aid is community participation & involvement. When WE own something, WE care for it better. When we participate in the daily upkeep & functionality of our resources, we work harder to maintain the health of that resource. When we invite our community to help each other we remove the separation of those who give and those who take. This is important as we all have something to give and we all require basic human needs - such as food.
Call to Action We must live in harmony & fight for the survival of one another with compassion, empathy & resilience. Be kind, softer to one another. Without the support & love from our community we will continue to live in poverty, depression & oppression. Please take this as an invitation to get involved in any mutual aid project. Though you may not be in need today - you may be tomorrow. Let's build better systems for each other, together.
The Free Food Shed is a Mutual Aid project not a Charity program. What's the difference? We're glad you asked!
Mutual Aid is the opposite of charity - instead of people in power handing down donations to those they deem or decide are less fortunate, we collectively work together to lift each other up. Mutual Aid is about community, reciprocity, and dismantling systems of power and control.
Trauma healing IS A COMMUNITY effort! And that's exactly what you are contributing to when you donate to OR volunteer at either of the Helping Hands Free Food Sheds.

Thank you for your donations!

These sheds would not be possible without the generous support of our hosting sites, community businesses, individual volunteers, donors and the sponsorship of local businesses and groups including: