Kelowna Gospel Mission planning two holiday dinners for people struggling with homelessness

Preparing 500 Xmas meals

Volunteers are hard at work this week at the Kelowna Gospel Mission prepping for not one, but two holiday dinners for people experiencing homelessness.

Food services manager Jeremy Luypen says the two dinners happening over the next week add up to more than 500 meals in total.

“We’ve got a Christmas dinner coming up and we’ve also got a community dinner coming up," he explained.

"So we have some chef friends in from some local restaurants and some retired chefs helping us prep about 200 pounds of turkey today, getting it all deboned, broken down so that we can make some stock and then cook it and get it ready for Saturday’s community dinner."

Making their way through December one day at a time, the executive director of Kelowna Gospel Mission Carmen Rempel tells Castanet its the most difficult time of the year for the shelter with many of its residents experiencing grief and trauma.

"We know it can be a very difficult time for people," she said. "Emotionally there’s a lot of grief that comes up around Christmas time, and so we really try to make a special event out of it for our residents and for those who are unfortunate enough to have to be sleeping outside in our community during Christmas."

The Kelowna Gospel Mission will have hot meals for their residents and will also be making a special delivery to the outdoor encampment.

“So on the 23rd, the residents will get a hot turkey dinner for lunch with ham, stuffing, potatoes and all that. On Christmas, with some kind donations, we will be able to serve them prime rib, so they’ll get a prime rib dinner no matter where you are, to kind of give you a special day,” said Luypen.

"When you can pass a plate to the person sitting next to you or ask for something across the table, something magical happens. There’s something really cool about how food can bring a family or people together.”

This year’s Christmas and Holiday dinners at Kelowna Gospel Mission are not open to the general public and are aimed at helping people facing homelessness.