WATCH: Linda Aylesworth with an update on a pop-up Surrey soup kitchen
A pop-up Surrey soup kitchen that faced obstacles this Thanksgiving is still running into roadblocks.
The mobile kitchen had been operating on a property owned by Whalley Legion until they got the boot on Thanksgiving day. They appeared to be back in business when the City gave them permission to use an empty lot nearby.
WATCH: Surrey soup kitchen shut down on Thanksgiving
Then Fraser Health called around two weeks ago, telling them they needed the proper permits.
“Fraser Health had called my partner and stated that we were breaking the Fraser Health code and that you’re not allowed to cook food in your own home, that you had to only cook in a certified Fraser Health kitchen,” says soup kitchen organizer Erin Schulte. “Then you would have to have expensive insulated containers to take it from that location to where you were serving.”
Fraser Health says it’s trying to ensure the safety of the public. They add that they don’t have a closure order yet and they are willing to work with the volunteers.
Still, the volunteers say the latest news is discouraging.
“I’ve lost a lot of sleep over this,” says Schulte.
“We’re all just people living on the poverty line ourselves,” she says. “No one here is rich. We scrimp and save to do this. This is what makes our heart happy.”
-with files from Linda Aylesworth
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