Free Thanksgiving meals served to help Toronto residents celebrate holiday

At least two organizations in Toronto served free Thanksgiving lunches downtown on Monday to ensure residents in the city celebrated the holiday with good food.

At the Scott Mission, 502 Spadina Avenue, about 320 people were served Thanksgiving lunch. Staff prepared dozens of turkeys, hundreds of potatoes and more than 100 litres of soup. Meals were served at 10:30 a.m. and 11:30 a.m.

The meal included roasted turkey and gravy, sweet potato soup, chef's salad, cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes, stuffing, mixed vegetable, and pumpkin pie for dessert.

"Thanksgiving is normally done sitting around the table with your family, having a turkey. What we do is make sure that this is family for them," Peter Duraisami, CEO of Scott Mission, told CBC News.

The mission said in a news release that the meal ensures people do not have to eat alone.

"Thanksgiving is a holiday to be celebrated with family and friends. This Thanksgiving, the Scott Mission will ensure that Toronto's most needy and alone are not forgotten," it said.

The Mission, located at the northwest corner of College Street and Spadina Avenue, is a Christian, non-denominational organization based in downtown Toronto that offers programs to support the poor and homeless.

Meanwhile, at a downtown Toronto Anglican church, Ryerson University faculty, students and staff from the Ted Rogers School of Management also prepared a Thanksgiving lunch.

The meal, at the Church of the Holy Trinity, 19 Trinity Square, with an entrance off Bay Street, featured baked ham, chicken, vegetables and dessert. It runs from noon to 1:30 p.m. and is open to the public.

The lunch was a joint effort by the Ted Rogers School of Management and the Church of the Holy Trinity.

Paul Huang, executive chef of the Ted Rogers School of Hospitality and Tourism Management, oversaw the meal with help from students from the faculty.