Finding a new way to break bread
Charities adapting their Thanksgiving plans to safely serve those in need
For years, decades in some cases, local charities in the city have opened their doors to provide a free, sit-down Thanksgiving dinner to low-income and homeless people in Toronto.
But the arrival of COVID-19 means these organizations have had to take special steps, including takeout windows and no longer using volunteers to feed the needy this holiday weekend.
Several faith-based shelters that feed and house the homeless year-round, including the Church of the Holy Trinity, the Good Shepherd Centre and the Scott Mission, are going ahead with plans to serve turkey, mashed potatoes and more to the less fortunate.
The Scott Mission, near Spadina Avenue and College Street, will be serving takeout Thanksgiving dinners Monday from 8 a.m. onward, but the charity is also planning to open up its building that day for small seatings indoors — up to 20 people at a time for a safe and physically distanced meal.
Staff preparing the meals will have personal protective gear, including masks, and front-line people serving the food will wear face shields. Temperatures will be taken for all staff, as well as the clients who come inside to eat.
No volunteers will be involved.
The mission’s plans are being audited by Toronto Public Health to ensure they meet safety protocols, said Peter Duraisami, president and CEO of the Scott Mission.
“Everyone says stay home to avoid COVID, but where is home if you’re homeless?” he said, later adding the homeless are human beings who need to be cared for, and that’s a big part of the reason behind the annual Thanksgiving meal at the mission, in its 79th year.
This year up to 300 homeless and low-income people are expected and the mission will be using 25 large turkeys. They’re also buying several large bags of potatoes for mashed potatoes, a side that will be served along with stuffing, dessert and a drink.
Meanwhile, at the Church of the Holy Trinity near Yonge and Dundas, the plan is to serve 240 meals on Sunday, beginning at noon, said Zachary Grant, community director for the Church of the Holy Trinity.
An invitation has been sent out to homeless people who live in shelters, as well as those who live in parks. Grant points out that there’s a homeless encampment near the church, so it’s expected that many will come from there too.
A meal that includes turkey, mash potatoes, gravy, fruit, a warm beverage and cookies is being served and for the fifth year in a row some students, staff and faculty from the Ted Rogers School of Management will be volunteering to help serve food. They will be screened for COVID.
Everyone serving will be in personal protective equipment including gloves, said Grant.
As a precaution against COVID-19, a Plexiglas shield is being set up in the church’s vestibule and a long table will be used to serve the food.
“We ask anyone coming to receive food to wear a mask and we’ll provide them to participants who don’t have one,” Grant said.
“We’ll pray for good weather. Many people will come and dine in the park (around the church) or go off to where they like to go,” Grant said.
At the Good Shepherd, a shelter on Queen Street East, there is an indoor dining room on site, but it won’t be used this year because of COVID, said Adrienne Urquhart, director of fundraising.
The charity, which is serving Thanksgiving on Monday from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m., served 1,886 meals last year, the largest to date, Urquhart said.
This year it’s expected that 700 meals will be served — they’ll have 1,000 ready just in case — with 150 turkeys cooked. Unlike the past, volunteers won’t be used this year.
Pylons will be in place to ensure people physically distance while recipients wait in line at the side of the building for their food.
Most of the measures in place at these organizations have been deployed since COVID hit in March.
City-run shelters, which practise physical distancing and other COVID-related measures, will be serving a Thanksgiving meal as usual, officials say.