Tiny home used for takeout offers quality food for anyone in downtown Kitchener

It may be small, but the new Tiny Home Takeout in front of St. Mary's Roman Catholic Church in downtown Kitchener can produce 12 personal pan pizzas in three minutes and at least 150 soups in the two hours it's open.

So says Father Toby Collins, who was behind the initiative to serve fresh quality meals for free regardless of a person's economic standing.

It's an idea he came up with while sitting down to eat with other members of the religious community.

"I was like, why can't they eat what we're eating tonight," Collins said. "This troubles me that people eat this emergency food supply and sometimes it comes out of a can. And I'm like, we can do better than this."

He reached out to people and organizations in the region who had expressed an interest in community outreach.

That led to a kitchen renovation in the church basement and the design of the tiny takeout hut in front of the church.

A lot of the food is donated locally by restaurant suppliers in the region and prepared by chef Amy Cyr. 

Some people who can afford to pay are dropping off donations when picking up food.

"We're also getting a lot of people who have means coming by and saying, 'I want to contribute' and we're like, 'Take food with you first.' They're a little shy. They're like, 'No, it's for somebody else.' We're like, 'It's for everybody.' And they make a donation," said Collins.

"We realize that we have enough resources for everybody so long as we get some contributions because like the slogan says, 'Grab a bite. Give if you can.'"

The Tiny Home Takeout is open Tuesday to Saturday from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m.