233050
231186

Kelowna  

45 turkeys for dinner

More than 800 dinners will be served in the Kelowna Gospel Mission’s new dining room this Thanksgiving.

Randy Benson, executive director of the mission, said the original building was built in 1981 and for the last 20 years served as the main dining hall.

“We could only seat a few people at a time, we could seat about 70 and we would feed 300 in a meal, so there was a lot of people waiting outside, and now we can serve more,” he said of the crowded space.

The new dining room is located where the old thrift store used to stand, next to the Gospel Mission; and Benson said it will offer space for people to spread out and will be very beneficial to their clients.

The thrift store, which was built in in 1990s, was relocated to Rutland earlier this year to allow for the Gospel Mission to renovate into a larger space.

“The project was about $100,000 and most of it came through donations and a small portion came through B.C. Housing to help with,” explained Benson.

Now, the new dining room will allow for about 120 people to be seated at one time for a meal.

Thanksgiving is the largest meal the Gospel Mission serves during the year.

“Traditionally, I am not sure why it is,” said Benson. “We have a lot of our regular clients that come here, but apart from that we have people who we would call the working poor or on income assistance, people who are housed but couldn’t afford a meal like this, and this gives them a chance to have a good Thanksgiving meal.”

A man named Justice who was enjoying Thanksgiving turkey at the mission said he not only has his holiday meals there, but volunteers as well.

“Some people don’t have families, and this is a family here,” he explained, adding the new space looks beautiful.

For Sydney Freeman and Amber Forsyth, it was their second Thanksgiving meal at the Gospel Mission.

“It is important the homeless have something to eat for Thanksgiving, and all the volunteers come in and help. It is really giving back to the community,” they said.

About 50 volunteers helped to serve the meals, alongside Mayor Colin Basran, city councillors Ryan Donn, Mohini Singh and Tracy Gray, as well as MP Ron Cannan and MLA Norm Letnick.

The meal was made up of more than 45 turkeys, 20 hams, 600 pounds of potatoes and homemade apple crisp.



More Kelowna News