Mayor thrilled with latest edition of Yarmouth’s 100 Meals Organizers intend to bring program back for a fourth year next winter
It was another great year for the 100 Meals program, says Yarmouth Mayor Pam Mood.
The program ended
March 15 with a meal at Beacon United Church. That’s two days earlier than its scheduled end date of March 17 due to the coronavirus situation.
“They served 129 rappie pie takeouts ... takeout only for safety reasons,” said Mood.
She didn’t have the final totals for the 2019-20 season, but said she was “absolutely thrilled” with how things went.
“Last year it was over 6,500 meals that we served in the 100 days and I would venture a guess that we will exceed that number this year.”
The initiative consists of a community meal per day, offered free of charge, for
100 days at various Yarmouth locations.
Mood says the 100 Meals program is for everyone, not just for people who may be struggling.
“I think the community is beginning to understand that this is not just for those in need,” she said. “It is to build community, so we are increasingly seeing families come out, our professionals, seniors are coming together ... everyone is taking advantage of it.”
The program is made possible by volunteers and donations, and the mayor says it’s great to see interest in it growing. Mood said the plan is to have a fourth edition of 100 Meals next winter.
“This fall we’ll start again and ask for donations,” she said. “I think people are seeing the value (in the 100 Meals). I get more and more calls from different organizations looking for where they can donate some funds and they’re now considering the 100 Meals program because they see what it does.”
Though the program’s third edition ended a couple of days early, the mayor says the total number of meals served still would have reached triple digits because there were some days when there were two meals.
In preparation for next year, she said program organizers are looking to have a food-handling course for people who are interested.
“I will be putting that together with the food inspection folks, so if we have 25 or 30 names, we’ll do a free course,” she said. “Anyone that wants to get a hold of me, we’ll add you to the list.”