Take Action
Take Action
Volunteer
Are you passionate about food? Do you find value in serving and building relationships with your community? Join us!
Support our work
If you believe in our mission, please consider becoming a donor. Your contributions have a lasting impact on our organization, providing consistent funding that allows us to stay ahead of the work that needs to be done.
Shop as a non-member
Shopping at our markets as a non-member is a great way to support our work as it helps make the markets more financially independent. This gives us the capacity to accept more shoppers at the member price.
Volunteer
Are you passionate about food? Do you find value in serving and building relationships with your community? Join us!
We have three main opportunities for volunteering:
Floor team: The floor team is involved in setting up our markets, distributing food to our members, food transformation, and cleanup. Floor team volunteers typically contribute 1- 4 hours a week on site.
Calling team: Our callers communicate information with members who do not have an email address or consistent internet access. Callers typically commit 30 minutes to an hour every two weeks remotely, and on their own schedule.
Advocacy team: The advocacy team is involved in food justice advocacy on a per-project basis.
Please fill out the form below to let us know that you’re interested and if you have any specific questions please reach out to innov-coord@direction.ca.
We believe in the power of distributing beautiful, healthy and local food to our neighbourhood. According to Canada’s Food Price Report 2024, more and more people neglect their nutritional needs to afford the cost of living, prioritizing cutting costs over buying the quality of food that they want and need. Oftentimes food banks that rely on larger corporate donations struggle to provide healthy, good quality, and therefore dignifying food to their members. By buying the food we need, we not only have control over its quality, we also participate positively in our local food economy, tying our region’s producers to the people who eat their products. This of course comes at a cost! While our solidarity market format contributes to the price of food distributed, it does not come close to the full cost of our operation, or even just the food purchased. This is where you come in - we are so thankful for your contribution, in whatever capacity you have!
While one-time donations of all amounts are welcomed, regular donations are the best way to help us! Here are some specific ways you can financially support Innovation Assistance:
Sponsor a family: it costs us about $25 a month to buy eggs, milk, and fresh produce for a family of four.
Sponsor our kitchen: A monthly donation of $30 would cover the extra ingredients to cook pre-made meals for 10 students, seniors, or anyone who doesn’t have great access to kitchen space.
Sponsor a Seniors Market: Each seniors market costs us about $250, which consists of extra products we specifically purchase for the market, and the transportation costs.
Sponsor a product: we have fairly stable monthly expenditures for different product categories, so you can contribute to a specific product!
Milk: $850 per month or 336 1.3L portions
Eggs: $1450 per month or 360 dozen eggs
Fresh produce: $3250 per month
Whole grains & lean proteins: $400 per month
Shop as a non-member
Shopping at our markets as a non-member is a great way to support our work as it helps make the markets more financially independent. This means we’ll have the capacity to increase the number of members who can shop at a reduced rate.
Find out more specific information about the Solidarity Markets here.
