St. Timothy hosts a Burnaby Community Fridge in partnership with the Burnaby Primary Care Network. The Community Fridge program provides access to food in a safe, low barrier and non-judgmental way. It provides a place for people in our neighbourhoods to give and take, to reduce waste and to build our food security in Burnaby. The fridges operate much like a "little free library" with volunteers at St. Timothy helping to ensure it is maintained. You can learn more about community fridges here. We are hoping to add a Community Fridge at St. Stephen's later in 2026.
Three ways you can support the Community Fridge at either or both locations:
1) Donate food to the fridge. Acceptable items are fresh produce (the celery bunch left after you used 3 stalks), dairy, bread, grab and go foods, and pantry items (all the granola bars you bought in bulk and then hated). Home cooked, expired, rotting, or open packages of food are not accepted.
2) Volunteer to help maintain the fridge. Take an extra few minutes when you are at church to check around and in the fridge. Clear out any food that's gone bad and clean up any spills.
3) Help stock the fridge with others' donations. We are sometimes notified of a large donation to another Community Fridge and need volunteers able to make short notice collection (many of these are from the Tian-Jin Temple at Smith and Canada Way). We have a local Starbucks that sometimes donates day old items and other local food businesses could also be encouraged to do the same but often need someone willing to collect.
If you have questions about the fridge or about volunteering, please connect with Pastor Ruth at priest@sainttimothy.ca.
