Need help?

The BFC is experiencing unprecedented demand for services and will not be providing a Thanksgiving hamper in 2022.

The 2022 Holiday Hamper registration form will be available online on Oct. 11, 2022. Hampers will be delivered to recipients on Dec. 16 & 17, 2022. We will update the website with more details as they become available.

We are here to help any resident of Barrhaven who needs food assistance.

If you are a new client, please email the Barrhaven Food Cupboard at appointments@barrhavenfoodcupboard.ca with the following information: name, phone number, address and the number of people in your family. If you do not have email, please call 613-825-4505 and leave a message. Please try to speak slowly and clearly so the phone machine can record your information accurately. You can expect a return call from a BFC volunteer within 48 hours. Please note that the return call may be from a blocked number, as many volunteers use their home phones.

If you are an existing client, please email the Barrhaven Food Cupboard at appointments@barrhavenfoodcupboard.ca each time you need a food order. Leave your name, phone number, address and family size, and we will get back to you within 48 hours. If you do not have email, please call 613-825-4505 and leave a message.

BFC volunteers operate mostly out of their own homes, using their own equipment and supplies. To respect their privacy – and yours – volunteers do not reveal their names to clients. Volunteers block their calls so that their personal phone numbers do not appear on call display and they do not leave their personal phone numbers on answering machines. If you are expecting a return call from a BFC volunteer, please pick up the phone when you see the message “blocked number” on your call display. You can contact a BFC volunteer only by leaving a message at the BFC’s general phone number 613-825-4505.

As a BFC client, you are allowed one food order every 30 days. The size of the food order depends on the size of your family. In general, each order contains enough food for you and your family for approximately seven days, except on those rare occasions when our resources are low and we have to cut back.

The Barrhaven Food Cupboard is intended as an emergency food source, not the only source of food for anyone. If you need more help than we can provide, you should get in touch with a social services agency.

We distribute food on Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday mornings, and Monday and Thursday evenings.

Yes, if you have your own transportation, we ask you to pick up your food order yourself. Families without transportation can ask for their food orders to be delivered. Depending on the size of your food order, you may be asked to pick it up even if you have access to only public transportation.

You can pick up your food order at the Barrhaven Food Cupboard. We are located at the Walter Baker Centre, 100 Malvern Drive. The food cupboard is accessible from a separate outside entrance, at the rear of the facility, by the Ruth Dickinson Public Library entrance. If you are a first-time client, please bring identification for each member of your family (such as birth certificate, passport or other form of ID) to show the volunteers. You will also need a document showing the primary family member’s name and address (such as a driver’s license or a rental agreement). You won’t usually have to provide identification again until the first order in the next calendar year.

If you need home delivery, you will be contacted by a BFC volunteer to arrange a suitable time for delivery on food distribution days. If you are a first-time client, please have identification for each member of the family (such as a health card or birth certificate) to show the volunteer delivering your food order. You will also need a document showing the primary family member’s name and address (such as a driver’s license or a rental agreement). You won’t usually have to provide identification again until the first order in the next calendar year.