MEALS FOR THE NEEDY
Demand triples in pandemic
When Greg Lemay returned home the other day, there were 100 loaves of bread and 75 frozen turkeys sitting in his driveway.
After three years of organizing the collection and distribution of Christmas dinners to those in need, even he was surprised by the outpouring of generosity this time around.
Almost as soon as he posted a notice online that he was planning his fourth annual collection, people started responding.
“They've seen the poster and they said what else do you need?” said Lemay. “Next thing you know, it's at my front door.”
Thanks to the work of Lemay, several businesses and a legion of volunteers, a total of 623 meals will go out across Windsor on Thursday. That's about triple the number of dinners handed out in each of the previous three years.
Those meals don't include the bread and 75 turkeys that appeared at his doorstep. Lemay already gave those away.
The day after the bread and turkeys arrived at his doorstep, Goodfellows showed up with a U-haul truck full of care packages, turkeys and toys. Those are gone, too.
Starting at noon on Thursday, volunteers will fan out across the city, delivering meals to New Song Church, the Windsor Residence for Young Men, Matthew House, which houses and supports refugee claimants, the Salvation Army, The Village at St. Clair, a long-term care facility, and about 90 clients of the Canadian Mental Health Association.
Another 163 meals will go to families of students at Catholic Central High School along with 150 more to other homes where the need was identified.
Most trays come with ham, turkey, buns, corn, stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, bottled water, utensils and dessert. But many trays are also customized, including vegetarian and halal meals. Deliveries to the various organizations will include Starbucks coffee.
The food was prepared Wednesday at Macro Foods. It will start going out at noon on Christmas Eve.
Lemay said he's normally able to give out about 200 meals. But many individuals and businesses, including Macro Foods, Merchants Paper, Manor Realty, Windsor Spring and Alignment, Pet Valu, M.R. Meats, Windsor firefighters and Goodwill, stepped up and donated massive amounts of food and money.
“Without the community support and people stepping up to say, hey, I have an extra turkey, I have an extra ham, I have 40 pounds of corn, without those things all coming together, this doesn't happen,” said Lemay.
“Without the support it's just a thought. I could think up these ideas all day long. If the community doesn't rally behind it, it doesn't happen.”