Organizations in Thunder Bay, Ont., are preparing hundreds of free meals for Thanksgiving

With Thanksgiving fast approaching, organizations across Thunder Bay, Ont., have begun heating up their kitchens to make sure everyone has a place to spend the holiday.

Some of the events taking place over the weekend include:

• The Salvation Army's sit-down dinner from noon to 2 p.m. on Sunday.
• The Evangel Church's international student Thanksgiving dinner at 6 p.m on Sunday.
• Dew Drop Inn's Thanksgiving dinner from noon to 3:30 p.m on Monday.
• Shelter House's Thanksgiving meal, which begins for residents on Sunday at 6 p.m. and for the public from 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m.

Giving people a sense of normalcy

Brendan Carlin, the executive director of Shelter House, said Thanksgiving, similarly to Christmas, is a traditionally important holiday. With this in mind, he said the organization has a great volunteer group, sponsored by Fort William Rotary, that comes every year to help out.

"Thanksgiving is a time when, in general, families around the country get together and usually have the traditional turkey meal," said Carlin. "We'd like to provide that to the people that use our services and anybody else who wants to come."

He added that the group plans to make 20 turkeys and serve about 300 people in the evening.

"Giving people food is important. You need food to survive, but also just to give them a sense of normalcy or even comfort," said Carlin.

"The people who use shelters and other services are in survival mode all the time, just constant stress, constant anguish. So, if we can give them half an hour to an hour of comfort food surrounded by people who are also in good spirits, then we want to do that."

'Nutrition, health, it all goes together'

Gary Ferguson, executive director of the Salvation Army Journey to Life Centre Thunder Bay, said the organization is anticipating between 275 and 300 individuals, but is prepared for more if necessary. This will be the 27th year the Salvation Army has partnered with the Thunder Bay Professional Firefighters Association for the Thanksgiving dinner. 

"Though holidays are a special time and they're a celebration for many people, they can be a sad time for many, too, as well. Because with our economy, the things that are going on in our community, some people just don't have the funds to have that traditional dinner," said Ferguson.

"I know there are a lot of people who are struggling with getting adequate food, so that's something we're happy that we're able to do and we feel very honoured and privileged to work with the firefighters to do that."

Ferguson said it's important to recognize the impact of food insecurity beyond the holidays.

"If you're hungry, you can't achieve the other things that you want to do in life – and I think it's very important that people are well fed," said Ferguson. "Nutrition, health, it all goes together."

Bus service to the Salvation Army's meal will be available from both the City Hall and Water Street terminals at 11:30 a.m. Sunday.

Immersing students in Canadian culture, cuisine

Tori Wallace, associate pastor at Evangel Church, said it will be the 23rd year, minus one or two during the pandemic, they have held their international student Thanksgiving dinner.

The church is located beside Lakehead University, and expects about 200 people at this year's dinner, she said.

"We're really excited about it. It's so fun to do. I personally love to be in the serving line where we put the food on the students' plates and they ask what it is, and they're always so eager to try it even though it's new, even though it's unfamiliar," said Wallace.

She said it's important for the community to recognize the number of newcomers in Thunder Bay. When they arrive, she said, it can be overwhelming to take in so many new things that differ from their culture back home.

"That can feel really lonely and really scary," said Wallace. "I think it's just so important for us, whether we're interacting with them here at Evangel during the Thanksgiving dinner or out in the community … that we're just kind and considerate and make them feel so welcome, which Canadians are usually fairly good at."

Food insecurity on the rise

Even with donations and support from partners, many organizations are struggling to get enough food to meet their clients' needs.

About 16.7 per cent of households in the Thunder Bay District are food insecure and not able to access healthy food, according to the 2023 Food Insecurity Report by the Thunder Bay District Health Unit. Meanwhile, about 90 per cent of users at Lakehead University's food resource centre last year were international students.

Sloan Monahan, operations manager at the Dew Drop Inn, said they prepare between 300 and 600 meals every day. He said they saw close to 700 people last year for Thanksgiving and expect the same this weekend.

"Our average numbers in September were 449 daily, which was a two-person increase per day from 2023 September," said Monahan.

"We understand that we're just a band-aid solution for right now, but we're trying our best," he said. "Something has to be done about the food insecurities in Thunder Bay."

Carlin agreed that "it's getting harder for everybody."

"Our staff does a great job of going through the donations, going through what we have and scrounging and then putting together actually wonderful meals with what we have," said Carlin. "But it's getting harder and harder to do that and there are lots of services around the city that provide similar or the same meals that we do."

It's a situation where they often need to be more creative with their funding, look at good stewardship and get help from the community, added Ferguson.

No matter what circumstances lead a person to use a food service or an emergency shelter, "try to remember that they are people, too, and everybody counts or nobody counts," said Carlin.

"This holiday … have a thought for those people who might be struggling and might be falling through the cracks."

The Thunder Bay District Health Unit provides more information on where to get food in Thunder Bay.