20 YEARS OF GOOD FOOD
Lawyers running Feed the Hungry Program have perfected task of feeding people who need help,
With a line of hungry guests snaking out the door while apron-clad servers carry out Salisbury steaks, corn and potato wedges to those lucky enough to get a seat, Osgoode Hall’s cafeteria could be the most popular restaurant in town.
In its 20th year, Lawyers Feed the Hungry Program has perfected the task of filling the bellies of people who are homeless or need assistance.
In one hour, 25 volunteers from the legal community serve as many as 425 hot meals and pour 90 litres of milk into hundreds of paper cups, ushering in guests as others finish eating.
William (Boomer) Wells, whose favourite meal served at the program is chicken parmesan, has three reasons for why he’s been attending since the meal service began in 1998.
“One, the food is good. Two, it helps out when I don’t have food for the whole month. Three, I like to catch up with the people who come here,” Wells said, adding he’ll probably go on Sunday, too, for the program’s 10 a.m. Thanksgiving feast.
Michael (Ducky) Mallard, who doesn’t have a kitchen of his own, makes sure to get to Osgoode Hall early so he can have a seat at the end of the table, on the left.
“I’m left-handed and I don’t want to elbow anyone while we’re eating,” he said, laughing. “I don’t want to start a food fight.”
The food is nutritious, simple and made in-house — pasta and chicken, potatoes and salad — and served all year long.
When the seasonal Out of the Cold relief ends in the spring, co-ordinator Chris Thomas prepares for more guests than usual, some travelling from as far away as Scarborough.
“It’s clean, it’s safe, it’s friendly,” Thomas said in the brightly lit cafeteria with rows of tables set with forks, knives and spoons set on top of fold- ed napkins, waiting for the doors to open.
“We keep it laid-back and relatable.”
The Law Society Foundation, law firms and individuals support the program’s four meals a week — two breakfasts and two dinners — costing about $3,000 each.
A year after Toronto lawyer Martin Teplitsky began Lawyers Feed the Hungry, it was rated the top soup kitchen by the Street Post, “a news- letter written by street people,” the Star reported in November 1999.
“I think that’s a great compliment to the people who volunteer,” Teplitsky said at the time. “They make an effort to treat the people who came here as if they were guests in their own home.”
That standard is one volunteers such as Jeanette Markle, a prosecutor at the city of Toronto, continue to strive for in honour of Teplitsky, who died last year.
“Many of these people have really challenging lives outside of here,” Markle said, gesturing to the 100 or so guests chatting and laughing with one another between sips of tomato and rice soup — the appetizer of the night.
Markle started volunteering 10 years ago and quickly came to love it.
“I wanted to give them a comfortable, nutritious community meal and after a while it got to be meeting with friends.”