Public Foods - An Ottawa Community Pantry Project

We are a group of Architecture Students at Carleton University supervised by a professor at the University who want to build a community pantry in Ottawa. Our hopes is to provide food and supplies to the most vulnerable in our communities in a safe and uplifting manor through a small projects that also helps teach our fellow students about wood frame construction in Canada.

We've already collaborative with groups and companies across the city in order to run the project and to help stock it in the long-term but are in need of additional funding with getting to build the structure the community has asked for and making it accessible year-round.

This project was designed by speaking directly with community members and the Ottawa Community Housing and has a vital list of items that they want to see included in their community pantry project. Some of these items include the ability to have a community garden incorporated into the design, as well as artwork that was made by a local artist included into the facade. The pantry will have access to a fridge and shelving as well as a small storage space in the back to hold on to overstocked donations and tools for the garden. The project will be wheelchair accessible, in a location of the city that is accessible by transit. 

Our challenge is that construction materials are still highly inflated from the pandemic. We currently have enough money to build a basic stuucture, with a wheelchair accessible ramp, but we believe that these members of our community deserve better than a modified shed. 

Poor peoples do not deserve poor quality.

We want to create something that not only feeds those in need within our community but provides them with dignity as they approach the project. The design is a small structure that contributes to the character of the neighborhood and will last a long time time.

If for some reason we managed to raise enough funds to exceed the construction costs, we promise that this money will go to buying additional food or supplies for this project, or will provide the pro object with additional services asked by the community that currently don't fit in the budget. 

We ask you to donate whatever you can, and if you can't donate today please share this with anyone you know. We want this opportunity for our community as well as our students.