How we give back
The Riversdale Community Fridge was established in January 2021 by a small core team of community members who wanted to help in addressing food insecurity and poverty in Saskatoon.
We are inspired by the work being done by other pre-existing groups who have been contributing to the effort, and hope that our project can inspire others to replicate their own efforts of mutual aid.
We believe food is a human right: everyone has the right to be free from hunger and poverty, and the right to food as a necessity in ensuring a quality standard of life.
Dad’s has been proud to support the Riversdale Community Fridge at various times including providing locally raised turkeys during the holidays.
Without proper nutrition, people living in poverty experience high levels of illness and stress. Hunger negatively affects every aspect of daily life in ways that are difficult to understand by those who have not experienced this challenge. By responding with two nutritious meals, 365 days of the year, the Inn empowers youth and adults to bridge the gap between cheques and better manage other daily issues. Serving the needs of vulnerable, marginalized people strengthens our community. By eliminating the stress of securing two meals, individuals and families can focus on other relevant issues such as securing housing, finding employment, creating healthy relationships and education for themselves and their children.
Those seeking meals and other services at the Inn include: individuals and families struggling to survive on a fixed income, people experiencing addictions and mental health issues, single mothers and fathers, senior citizens and new immigrants. The Friendship Inn serves between 200-350 meals each day at breakfast; and between 400 and 700 meals for lunch.
The Friendship Inn serves breakfast from 8:00 am to 9:30 am and lunch is served from 11:30 am to 1:30 pm. All meals are offered free of charge, with no questions asked.
Our Warm Meal Program has made it easy for hundreds of our customers to quickly and easily donate nutritious food to people in need in our community.
Food waste is a part of daily life at any grocery store but we are doing our best to reduce the amount of waste we have as much as possible! Our produce scraps as well as fruits and vegetables that arrive to us in a condition that doesn’t allow us to sell it is distributed to local growers and farmers to use as animal feed and compost. This includes local producer Dave Epp (seen here) and his flock of chickens that supply local families with delicious fresh eggs.
