Barrie food delivery program closes due to lack of support, funding

Simcoe County food delivery program ends Fresh Food Weekly has been forced to shut down due to a lack of funding.

Operating Fresh Food Weekly all by herself became unsustainable for founder Leah Dyck.

"I was running out of money; I was running out of time," she said. I couldn't spend time fundraising because I was so busy running day-to-day operations."

Dyck estimates Fresh Food Weekly delivered around $5,500 worth of fresh food per month to those in need over the last two years.

That included Kendra Forbes. A single mom in Innisfil with two of her kids and three others she looks after.

"[Leah] took all of those issues that we faced, like transportation, access to fresh food... she brought it to our door on a regular basis," Forbes said.

Forbes and others in need will now have to look elsewhere for services they strongly depend on. "It's kind of terrifying, to be honest," she added.

Steve Bradley from the Innisfil Food Bank confirmed that the need for food services in the Town has significantly increased.

"A few years ago, we were averaging about 60 families per month," stated Bradley. "We're probably averaging 160 to 170 families per month now in 2024."

Regarding what's next for fresh food delivery, Dyck proposed to Barrie Mayor Alex Nuttall that the City should create a food assistance office that the government subsidizes. She hopes it would allow more consistent support and funding to fill the ever-growing need for food and fresh food services.