The Gloucester Emergency Food Cupboard was initially established as a temporary food distribution program to provide emergency food to the increasing number of hungry individuals in our community. After a year of preparation by a committee consisting of representatives from local churches, service groups, Gloucester City Council and the Eastern Ottawa Resource Centre, the Food Cupboard officially opened on January 19, 1989.
The program started off with no funding, but received donations for everything that was needed to begin the program such as furniture, old refrigerator and freezers from several sources. The City of Ottawa also contributed as they upgraded the electrical services, and built shelves and a large table for our use. The program was initially open only on Thursdays from 10am - 2pm and again from 6 - 8pm; however, after six months the decision was made that due to the rapidly increasing number of individuals being served the hours changed to Monday evening, Wednesday afternoon and Friday morning (similar to our hours today). By the end of the first year, the Food Cupboard was still entirely operated by volunteers and had no direct government funding of any kind. Funding consisted of what was raised through fundraising events, private donations, food drives within the community, and the support from the Ottawa Food Bank. By the end of the first year of operation, the GEFC helped over 300 clients a month, with an estimate of about 2700 people that year. The program continued to demonstrate its significance as we served over 5,800 the following year, over 10,400 people in 1991, and over 14,600 people in 1992.
Today, the Food Cupboard serves over 1,600 individuals a month, with over 45% under the age of 19. Due to the constant demand for food in our community, the GEFC has been in operation for nearly 22 years. Because of the continuous support from our volunteers, donators, schools, faith-based groups, non-profit organizations, businesses and local resident within our community, the Food Cupboard has and will continue to help and serve those in need in our community.