In the Calgary neighbourhood of Kensington, workers at Flipp’n Burgers fired up the grill bright and early for what’s become an annual tradition at the restaurant on Christmas Eve.
“The grill was fired up around 6-6:15 a.m. and it hasn’t stopped since,” laughed Jorgji Qiro, manager of Flipp’n Burgers.
“It was my dad and uncle’s idea to begin with and we started seven years ago… and they just wanted to give back to the community.”
They were busy preparing two donations of nearly 400 burgers each for the Calgary Drop-In Centre, as well as the Mustard Seed.
“Every year their number changes depending on how many people they have,” Qiro explained. “This year was like 390 for the Mustard Seed, and then 400 for the (Calgary) Drop-In (Centre).”
Besides that, a sign out front welcomes any and every passerby to pop in for a burger on the house.
“A lot of people that are just working around Kensington or passing by, they open the door and give us a thank you or happy holidays, or Merry Christmas,” said Qiro.
“It’s good to know that we have our community behind us, helping us, and supporting so we can continue to do this every year.”
While picking up burgers, Eric McComish, community impact supervisor with the Mustard Seed, told Global News the annual donation from Flipp’n Burgers means a lot to those who frequent the Mustard Seed and their staff.
“We do a lot of soup and sandwiches, so having a really awesome burger is just a nice change.” McComish remarked.
“It also takes a lot of pressure off of our kitchen staff who are cooking over the holidays, Christmas Day, Christmas Eve, and takes pressure off our volunteers.”