Ottawa Mission's `loaner' truck feeds thousands
Restaurant owner calls offering vehicle `one of the best things we've ever done'
When the Pelican Seafood Market and Grill loaned a food truck to The Ottawa Mission, it first appeared the truck could deliver about 100 meals a week to five neighbourhoods — 500 meals a week.
That was in September. The food truck now delivers more than 2,000 meals a week, with 13 weekly neighbourhood stops across the city.
Pre-pandemic, the truck had a spot serving the lunch crowd at the corner of Queen and O'Connor streets downtown and was also used to cater events such as weddings, said Pelican owner Jim Foster.
But business evaporated during the pandemic and Foster wanted to see the fully equipped truck put to good use.
“It's one of the best things we've ever done,” he said.
On Tuesday, the truck was parked at the Ottawa East Seventh-Day Adventist Church in Overbrook, serving up roast chicken with potatoes and vegetables, prepared by students in The Mission's food service training program.
Overbrook resident Brett Ryan gets two meals for himself and three more for other people in his nearby apartment building.
Ryan used to work part-time for a temp agency, but now the Ontario Disability Support Program is his only source of income. He has lost about $300 a week in pay and the weekly meals he gets at the food truck, augmented with supplies from a local food bank, help him get to the end of the month.
“I can come down with a friend of mine and spend some time with him. I don't have to go hungry today,” said Ryan, who often runs out of money for food two weeks before the end of the month.
“I just wait. I go two, three days without eating, sometimes four. If I had bus fare, I could go down to The Mission. But it's kind of a long walk.”
The dining room at The Mission served 1,400 meals a day before the pandemic, said the director food services, chef Ric Allen-Watson.
After the pandemic hit, the staff opened up the garage door and handed out plastic bags with three meals in them — one hot and two cold — to make up for the meals clients couldn't have in the dining room. Some people who use the meal program are so hungry, they rip into the bag of food as soon as they get it, he said.
But some people also can't come to The Mission to be served because of disability or lack of bus fare.
“The need out there is astronomical,” Allen-Watson said.
The congregation of Ottawa East Seventh-Day Adventist Church on Prince Albert Street is happy to host the food truck because there is such a need, said Pastor Matthew Feeley.
Members of the congregation decided to start a food bank at the beginning of the pandemic. At first, it was serving 20 people. Now it's helping out 100 families ranging in size from two to six people, he said.
Rideau-Rockcliffe Coun. Rawlson King, whose ward includes Overbrook, said poverty is a challenge in the ward. Half of the children in Rideau-Rockcliffe live in poverty and depend on services such as food banks, he said.
Overbrook-McArthur also has one of the highest rates of COVID-19 infection in the city and Ottawa-Vanier has the highest food bank use of any provincial riding in Ontario. King said he is working on a poverty-reduction strategy, to be released soon, that will call for the creation of a food security co-ordinator for Ottawa.
Last year, The Mission served 520,000 meals. With the food truck, The Mission is on track to serve more than 600,000 meals this year, said CEO Peter Tilley.
So far, the food truck has served almost 14,000 meals. People continue to call The Mission to ask if the food truck can make their community a regular stop, he said. The Mission is exploring ways to get a second food truck on the road to reach even more people.
“We've seen unprecedented levels of hunger in our communities.”