Agape Table hosts meal for 400 homeless, low-income people

Agape Table, a West Broadway community nutrition centre in Winnipeg, is springing for more than 400 Easter meals today for people in the inner city neighbourhood.

The organization offers breakfasts Monday through Friday for between 200 and 250 people each morning. Daily options include free soup, toast and coffee or a full restaurant-style breakfast for $1.

Many people in the surrounding community have limited or no income and food prices are continuing to increase. For some, having access to nutritional food is becoming harder every day. 

"We don't just believe in feeding people, we believe in offering people nutritious foods to help balance their diets and balance their lives," said Dave Cunnin the executive director of Agape Table. 

It's a resource that for some is so vital.

"You wake up in the morning, sometimes you wake up at 5 a.m. in the morning, you're hungry and you've got nothing in your stomach," said Pete Barkman, who has been coming to Agape Table since it opened 35 years ago.

"[Volunteers] come down here volunteering, putting something in your stomach which is really nice," said Barkman.

The addition of turkey, ham, bacon and pudding makes any meal special, but for some of the regular clients it is also a chance to enjoy a holiday meal together. 

"Many of the people who come and visit us everyday, they don't have families of their own or they're estranged from their family," Cunnin adds.

"These holiday meals offer an opportunity for them to feast together, in celebration with their Agape Table family."

Agape Table also hosts holiday meals at Christmas and Thanksgiving.