The Sharing Place Food Centre

The Sharing Place Food Centre The Sharing Place Food Centre aims to create a healthy and connected community through access to nutritious food.

Our six programs Support Today with nutritious food access and Transform Tomorrow with long-term initiatives for a food-secure future. The Sharing Place Food Centre has a diverse set of programs that connect our community to food. We strive to create programs that provide equitable access to nutritious food and educational moments that create opportunity for our members. https://sharingplaceorilli

a.org/programs/

FOOD RECOVERY - We partner with local grocery stores and food service providers to recover surplus food that would otherwise go to waste. Through our responsible collection and storage practices, we ensure this rescued food is distributed not only to our members but also to other local food banks and community agencies. MEALS 4 CHANGE - An innovative initiative dedicated to creating healthy, ready-to-eat meals from the food we recover. By utilizing the abundant supply of rescued food, along with the dedication of our incredible volunteers, we prepare and freeze over 2,000 nutritious meals each week in our on-site commercial kitchen—at a fraction of the cost of store-bought options. These are distributed to our members through our food bank and to vulnerable individuals in the community via local agency partners. SCHOOL FUEL - An initiative that safely delivers a wide range of healthy food items directly to 25 local schools on a bi-weekly basis. Designed to be deeply discounted, The Sharing Place offsets the costs to help maximize limited school budgets. FOOD BANK - Provides a one-week supply of food, once per month. We prioritize offering fresh, healthy food, with more than 50% of each hamper consisting of fresh items, supported by our Food Recovery program and generous seasonal donations from local growers and farmers. VOLUNTEERING - Join our amazing volunteer team! Applications are online at sharingplaceorillia.org/volunteer.

06/01/2026

Some people volunteer for a few hours. Some for a few months. And then there are people like Cathy: After nearly 25 years of faithful service, Cathy officially retired from volunteering with The Sharing Place this past Friday.

How do you thank someone for 25 years of showing up? For thousands of hours given freely. For countless tasks completed without fanfare. For the steady presence, the caring heart, and the quiet commitment that helped shape this place into what it is today.

The truth is, you can’t fit that kind of gratitude into a plaque, a speech, or even a farewell gathering. But we wanted to try: this small celebration was our way of saying thank you. Thank you for every hour, every act of kindness, every challenge you helped us overcome, and every life you touched along the way.

Cathy, your fingerprints are all over The Sharing Place. In the shelves you’ve stocked, the people you’ve welcomed, the problems you’ve solved, and the community you’ve helped build.

From all of us at The Sharing Place: thank you for almost 25 extraordinary years. It has been a privilege to have you as part of our family.

Enjoy this next chapter. You’ve more than earned it. ❤️

05/28/2026

Big cheers for our School Fuel Month colouring contest winners! 🥇🥈🥉
Their creativity is helping support access to healthy food for students across our community.

Parents/guardians of teens entering grade 9 or 10 this fall, we would love to welcome your young person to SPARK Change ...
05/26/2026

Parents/guardians of teens entering grade 9 or 10 this fall, we would love to welcome your young person to SPARK Change this summer at The Sharing Place Food Centre.

This two week program offers students a chance to learn about food access in our community, build confidence through hands-on activities, and contribute in a meaningful way. Participants can also earn up to 30 volunteer hours toward their high school requirement, based on attendance.

Teens can apply to take part in one of the following sessions (each session offers the same experience):

July 6 to July 17
July 20 to July 31
August 10 to August 21

There is no cost to participate and spaces are limited.

Interested youth are encouraged to apply online using link in bio or by visiting the QR code.

We look forward to spending a session learning together and supporting local youth as they get involved in their community.

05/26/2026

After almost 25 years of loving, organizing, fixing, feeding, protecting, and fiercely caring for The Sharing Place 💚, our beloved Cathy is officially retiring.

To know Cathy is to have a Cathy story 🫶 Whether she made you laugh, helped you quietly, or corrected your shelving technique with military precision 😂, she has left a mark on all of us, so if you work alongside her or were part of her sorting table team and want to wish her a farewell, join us as we celebrate an absolute Sharing Place legend ✨

📍 Warehouse
📅 Thursday, May 28
⏰ 12:00 p.m. to 12:30 p.m.

Come share a memory, a smile, or simply a moment with someone who gave so much of herself to everyone around her!

05/26/2026

There is so much to celebrate in this moment. 💛✨

This $20,000 gift from Orillia Home Hardware, which anchored our School Fuel Month matching campaign, reflects what community looks like in action. Staff, volunteers, customers, and neighbours coming together because they believe in making sure local kids have access to the food they need. 🍌🥯🍊🏡

Thank you to everyone who gave. Community support helped us more than double the impact of the original match, and that is something to be proud of. 🙌

Right now, 1 in 3 kids in our region are living in households where food access is not always certain. That can look like skipping meals, stretching what is on hand, or going without fresh fruit, vegetables, dairy, or meat because the budget just does not allow for it.

These realities do not stay at home. They show up in classrooms every day. Support like this helps ensure students can count on consistent, nutritious food during the school day, and families can feel some relief knowing that support is there. 🍎

We are so grateful to the Home Hardware team, and for every community member who gave, for standing with us in this work. 💚🤝

05/13/2026

The Orillia & Area Food Strategy has officially passed at Orillia City Council, with all motions approved.

After a year of community input, collaboration, and hard work, we now have:
• A City-endorsed strategy
• A commitment to bring food into decision-making
• A shared approach to moving this work forward

This is how change happens, together.

🎙️ Sharing a moment from Lesley’s CBC interview talking about what this means on the ground. Stay tuned for next steps.

05/13/2026

The Orillia & Area Food Strategy has officially passed at Council, with all motions approved.

After a year of community input, collaboration, and hard work, we now have:

• A City-endorsed strategy
• A commitment to bring food into decision-making
• A shared approach to moving this work forward

This is how change happens, together. 🤝

🎙️ Sharing a moment from Lesley’s CBC interview talking about what this means on the ground. Stay tuned for next steps!

Well done Sarah and Sharp Bus Lines! 👏 We are always grateful for the support and the added awareness created through yo...
05/07/2026

Well done Sarah and Sharp Bus Lines! 👏
We are always grateful for the support and the added awareness created through your efforts.
Thanks to all who contributed. 💚

05/06/2026

At the time of posting, these raw ingredients are being transformed in our Meals 4 Change program into ready-to-heat, nutritious meals.

It is steady, behind the scenes work that helps ensure people in the community can count on what they receive.

We are grateful to the farmers behind the food. Thank you to the Chicken Farmers of Ontario and Beef Farmers of Ontario, and Ontario Pork, for the care and commitment that goes into raising the food we rely on. Your work helps to make these meals possible.

Grateful for the helping hands 👋 of the McLean & Dickey team to help us raise funds this weekend at the Quayle’s spring ...
05/05/2026

Grateful for the helping hands 👋 of the McLean & Dickey team to help us raise funds this weekend at the Quayle’s spring market. It takes a village to run The Sharing Place programs and another village to fundraise what’s needed.

Thank you! 💚

Address

95 Dufferin Street
Orillia, ON
L3V5S9

Opening Hours

Monday 10:30am - 2:30pm
Tuesday 4:30pm - 7:30pm
Wednesday 10:30am - 2:30pm
Friday 10:30am - 2:30pm

Telephone

+17053274273

Website

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