Helping Hands Free Food Shed

09/10/2025

🥫💚 A New Chapter 💚🥫

The Free Food Shed journey has grown into something even bigger: the full Helping Hands Food Rescue program.

To make it easier for our community to follow along, we’re moving all updates and stories to our main Helping Hands account 👉 Helping Hands Society Cochrane

This page will stay live as part of our history, but all future celebrations, updates, and volunteer opportunities will live with Helping Hands Society Cochrane.

Follow us there to continue the journey 💚.

09/08/2025

🚐🥕 From Idea to Impact! 🥕🚐

Five years ago, the Free Food Shed was just a simple idea—a community pantry where neighbours could share food with neighbours. With the help of volunteers, donors, and community partners, that small idea has grown us into a full-time Food Rescue Agency - saving more than 20,000 lbs of food every month for our neighbours.

👉 This isn’t just about the sheds anymore — it’s about the bigger vision of food security in our community.

Stay tuned as we share the next chapter in this journey… and a major milestone we can all celebrate together 💚 From a crude concept to a community movement—look what we’ve built together.

09/05/2025

🚐🥕 Free Food Shed Fun Fact! 🥕🚐

Did you know our Food Rescue journey started just 4 years ago with a once-a-week pick-up from Starbucks? ☕ At the time, we had no idea how big it would grow…

Today, that little start has become a full-on food recovery monster 💚 with multiple rescues every single day and more than 20,000 lbs of food recovered every month!

From one weekly stop to a movement fighting food waste and feeding our community—we’ve come a long way, thanks to YOU. 🌟

If you would like to join our Food Rescue Team or support our efforts - head to website: helpinghandscochrane.ca

09/03/2025

Our Shed is ready for class—but we know many families are struggling with the extra costs that come with back-to-school season. 💚 From school supplies to groceries, these expenses add up quickly and can leave households stretched thin.

That’s where YOU come in. Your donation helps us keep the Free Food Sheds stocked with good food, easing the burden for families who need a helping hand during this busy season. 🍎✨

💚 Support local families today: https://helpinghandscochrane.ca/

09/02/2025

09/01/2025

08/30/2025

Once upon a time… it was all beans. 🫘💚

From bean days to food rescue heroes you could say 'we've bean🫘 there and cooked that' 😝

What started as a small act of kindness has grown into a community movement. 💚 If you would like to support or join us: helpinghandscochrane.ca

08/28/2025

☀️💚 Help Beat the Heat! 💚☀️

With this heat wave, families in our community need a little extra support. If you’re dropping off donations to the Free Food Sheds, consider adding cold drinks, bottled water, popsicles, or even sunscreen. 🧊🍦🌊

Small acts of kindness can go a long way in keeping neighbours safe, cool, and cared for. 💚

08/28/2025

Mark your calendars - 3 more Saturdays to round up and share that fruit growing on your tree🍎 Fun Fact: if you want to share it with the local food banks and us - pick the fruit directly from the tree. If your collecting from the ground it goes to the animals 👩‍🌾 keep it seperate please.

Amazing start to the Tree Fruit Round-Up! Day one brought in DOUBLE last year’s best day - way to go, Cochrane!

We’ve got 3 more chances to keep this momentum going: Sept 6, 13 & 20 at the Cochrane Lagoon (12–3 p.m.). Let’s come together to reduce waste, support families, and protect wildlife. 💚

👉 Learn more & get involved:https://www.cochrane.ca/community-and-culture/community-events/community-tree-fruit-round

08/27/2025

💚 Your Gift Changes Everything 💚

At Helping Hands, every dollar you give helps us fight food insecurity, rescue good food from going to waste, and provide essential support to neighbours who need a helping hand.

Your donation keeps our Free Food Sheds stocked, our Food Rescue Van on the road, and our volunteers equipped to serve the community. 💪

When you give local, you make a real, immediate impact right here in Cochrane.

✨ Donate today and help us keep the goodness going: https://helpinghandscochrane.ca/donate-today/

08/25/2025

Food insecurity is at crisis levels. People just need support 💚
Without barriers, stigma and restrictions.
We will continue to do our part - one food rescue at a time - everyday.

Food insecurity is no longer hidden in Calgary—it’s at crisis levels. Recent data shows that in 2023, nearly one in three Calgarians (31.9%) lived in a food-insecure household, meaning they couldn’t reliably afford enough nutritious food.