Free transit tickets now available for Shelburne Food Bank clients

Written By Paula Brown

Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Clients of the Shelburne Food Bank now have access to transit tickets for free.

During their meeting on Sept. 11, Shelburne Council approved a report 

brought forward by town staff that recommended allocating $750 from the 2023 community grant fund to support the cost of providing transit-free tickets to the Shepherds Cupboard Foodbank to distribute to their clients. 

“We recognize that council, through the grant program of this year, placed a significant importance on food insecurity and supporting those organizations that were helping members of our community through difficult times,” said Denyse Morrissey, chief administrative officer. 

The recommendation from staff comes after a summer program initiated by Grey County to provide fare-free service on all their routes came to a close on Sept. 3. 

“There was a marginal surplus in this year's 2024 grant program and we thought that it might be very helpful to extend a ticket program to the client of the food bank,” added Morrissey. 

Before Grey County introduced the summer fare-free program, the Town of Shelburne was in consultation with Shepherds Cupboard Food Bank in late April regarding their interest in distributing transit tickets to their clients to support travel,
especially for food and grocery needs. 

A statement from Shepherds Cupboard included in the staff report reads, “This sounds like a great idea, and the Foodbank would be happy to get tickets out to those that need them.”  

The Town of Shelburne doesn't fund or contribute to the cost of the Grey Transit Route weekday service between Dundalk and Orangeville but does cover the cost of weekend service. In April, the weekend service route was adjusted to include 14 stops in Shelburne based on a 30-minute loop for about 5 hours on Saturdays and Sundays. 

The transit tickets will be provided to the Town of Shelburne from Grey County at a flat rate of $5 and will then be given to Shepherds Cupboard Food Bank to distribute to their clients. 

According to the report, the allocation of $750 would provide 150 free tickets to the Shelburne Food Bank.

“These tickets can be used weekday or weekend, there's no limitation on what they can be used for; they can be used for anything within the GTR Transit program,” said Morrissey.