Penticton's Soupateria closed due to COVID-19 concerns

Penticton's downtown soup kitchen has closed its doors indefinitely in the face of the COVID-19 crisis. 

The Soupateria, which offers a free lunchtime meal to over 100 people a day, closed its dining room mid-month in favour of offering takeaway lunch bags.

But that move ultimately was not enough to ensure the safety of volunteers and clients, forcing a total shutdown.

"It was almost impossible with 125 different volunteers and different shifts of people coming in to keep people social distancing," said Soupateria president Tracy Comber. 

"We can't wash everything down and even if we do, is one of us contaminated? We don't know. Honestly, there have been a lot of tears cried between all of us trying to figure out a way to go forward," Comber said. 

Social distancing between clients in the Soupateria yard, where clients normally congregate, was also difficult to enforce. 

"Outside, we were trying to say 'Hey, we have to socially distance, you've got to stay apart,' we tried bringing in a handwashing station," Comber explained. "It didn't work well."

She expressed hope that the organization will re-open as soon as possible. 

"Hopefully we can get this right back on track, because we don't want anyone going hungry."

As of Monday, the Soupateria is not offering meals.