Photo: File photo

Kelowna Gospel Mission will open its doors Saturday for its annual family Easter banquet.

Preparations are underway to feed up to 600 people from noon to 6 p.m.

The banquet is billed as an opportunity for Kelowna to come together as a family to celebrate the resurrection, to enjoy each other with laughter, sharing and a meal of turkey, ham, stuffing, veggies, gravy and buns. The meal will conclude with pie donated by Safeway on Bernard and Save On Foods on Lakeshore.

Many who will take part in the Easter banquet are there for more than just a meal. For them, the fellowship and sense of belonging is as important as the delicious food served.

Although former resident Gordon hasn't lived in the shelter for months, he frequently comes back to visit.

“At the Kelowna Gospel Mission, I was exposed to a level of love and compassion that I had never before experienced. After suffering through a lifetime worth of extreme anxiety, I felt at peace with the world. The staff and the volunteers all made that possible. What a truly blessed and unique place I found," he said.

Gospel Mission executive director Randy Benson said: “We are grateful for God’s gift of redemption this Easter and happy to be able to celebrate with our family in the Gospel Mission and our family from the community." 

More than 50 volunteers, many of them former residents, will serve dinner.