FERGUS – The Giving Spot offers free food, care packages and second hand housewares, toys, clothing and other items.
It is open to all, and people can drop by at the portable at Victoria Terrace Public School from 11am to 2pm on Saturdays.
“Anybody and everybody can come and get what they need,” Giving Spot administrator and CEO Alissa Pott told the Advertiser.
She said the items available include “anything and everything, except large furniture.”
Pott said between 20 and 70 people visit the Giving Spot every Saturday, and just this year the organization has helped between 15 and 20 households get set up with what they need to move into a new home or apartment, other than large furniture.
“To see it being utilized shows how much there’s a need in the community,” Pott said.
A wide demographic of people visit the Giving Spot, Pott said, including families, single people, and seniors.
Giving Spot volunteers Alissa Pott and CeCe Pereira help children chose Easter goodies on April 12. Submitted photo
Some people are struggling to get by on Ontario Works or Ontario Disability Support Programs, she said, while others “have two jobs and are still struggling.”
The Giving Spot partners with the Sanguen Community Health Van, providing clothing and items for them to distribute to people in need.
The Giving Spot also organizes events, including the Easter Eggstravaganza on April 12.
At Christmastime, the Giving Spot offers an opportunity for children to visit the shop and pick out a gift for someone special in their lives.
Volunteers wrap the presents and give them to the kids to put under the tree and surprise someone with on Christmas Day.
Pott said that’s a popular initiative that will be in its third year this Christmas.
The organization depends on community donations and volunteers to operate.
“It doesn’t run off any income at all,” Pott said. “It is all out of pocket ourselves or donations from the community.”
She expressed appreciation for all the community support the organization received, noting “it’s overwhelming how fast we’ve grown over the years.”
She said “the community has been very great, with all the items keep flowing in and [enabling us to] keep doing what we do.”
Donations can be dropped off anytime, 24 hours a day seven days a week on Pott’s porch at 301, Unit B, Edinburgh Ave. in Fergus.
Pott said there is highest demand for non-perishable food.
The Giving Spot first opened during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, as people in Pott’s neighbourhood were noticing that many quality items in good condition were winding up in the dumpster, Pott said.
She said her neighbours were having conversations about how “really good items shouldn’t be going into the trash – that’s a waste … Why don’t we do something about it?”
At the beginning, Pott set up in the field at Bethel Baptist Church every Saturday “as a pop-up free garage sale,” and later moved to the portable at Victoria Terrace Public School, as the school offered for them to use it for free.
But the Giving Spot is looking for a new home, as it will lose access to the portable in June because the school needs it in September.
Giving Spiot volunteers Laura Fletcher, Deb Clements and Sarah Mason. Submitted photo
Pott said the group is hoping to secure a new location, but hasn’t found one yet. Without any income, the group is hoping someone will offer them space to use free of charge.
“All we need is a roof, really,” Pott said. “I have all the equipment – racks, hangers, all of that. We just need a closed-in area so that I’m not running out in the rain with tarps.”
And they’d only need access to the space on Saturdays.
“I’m praying that we get a new spot for September,” she said.
During the summer, they will set up at 301 Edinburgh by the dumpsters.
Currently, the Giving Spot has four volunteers, but they could do with more help.
Volunteers are particularly needed on Saturdays to help sort donations, bag up care packages, sweep the floors and help people shop.
“If they are new to the Giving Spot they can help them and tell them about how it all works,” Pott said, and “if they need to bring things to vehicles they would help with that, and help unload vehicles if needed when people bring in donations.”
The volunteer hours can be used towards the 40 hours needed for high school graduation, Pott noted.
For more information about volunteering, contact the Giving Spot through its Facebook page GIVINGSPOT/VT Community Group Fergus or email givingspotfergus@gmail.com.
