Meal Box Program

Fresh Food Weekly is a food charity registered with the Canada Revenue Agency and provides a free monthly meal box delivery program to low-income families residing in the City of Barrie and the Town of Innisfil. We seek to improve food security by creating a reliable avenue to get fresh food into the homes of people who really need it. The ripple effects of the pandemic are impacting everyone - but it's hitting the most vulnerable in our community the hardest. There is an unprecedented need to help those who are struggling to eat on a daily basis and the goal of Fresh Food Weekly is to alleviate this struggle to some degree. Whether they're a single mom working three jobs, have a disability and literally can't work, or are elderly and live alone and have no one to look after them, Fresh Food Weekly improves food security by breaking down every single barrier preventing these people from eating three meals a day.

 

Our meal box program was launched in June 2022 and is the result of two successful runs at Christmas (December 2021) and Easter (April 2022). Each month, we put together meal boxes that include locally sourced, fresh food that has been donated or purchased at a reduced price. Beginning in January 2023, we have split these boxes into two deliveries, and added additional food items, and now we deliver fresh food on a biweekly basis. These meal boxes can only be purchased on behalf of a low-income family, and every month we fund-raise to cover their costs. We’ve partnered with local farmers and grocers in our local area whom we can rely on for various locally grown and raised food, including milk, cheese, eggs, butter, meat, produce, bakery bread and desserts. 

​

​

As of 2023, we have also started requiring program recipients to provide proof of income to ensure the families we're serving are actually in need.