Edmonton’s less fortunate get treated to Thanksgiving dinner thanks to young volunteers

EDMONTON – Cooking Thanksgiving dinner is never an easy task, and it’s even more challenging when you’re cooking for about 1,500 guests. But that’s exactly what 15 NAIT students spent their weekend doing for Edmonton’s less fortunate.

“They (the turkeys) get deboned, Friday night we came in and cooked them, Saturday we spent cutting vegetables, slicing turkeys, making gravy,” explained a 2nd year Culinary Arts student, Shawna Robinson.

Come Sunday, 72 turkeys along with 1,000 pounds of potatoes and carrots, and 140 litres of gravy were ready to be served at the Boyle Street Community Centre.

“I think it’s very heartwarming how many people are willing to give up part of their holiday weekend to spend it and serve those who are living in poverty in our city,” said Julian Daly, the Executive Director of the Community Centre.

Among the volunteers who came to treat the city’s less fortunate to a proper Thanksgiving dinner were students from the U of A’s Rotaract club, as well as Amber Heather. Heather’s been volunteering at the annual charity dinner for years, and this year she decided to bring along her 13 year-old daughter and 9 year-old son to help.

“I’m hoping it will a learning experience for them and teach them to be more thankful for the things they have,” she said. “There’s a lot of people out there that don’t have the things we have, so I hope they get something out of it personally.”

The experience is helping her daughter, Allie, learn how fortunate she is. “I’m thankful that I have a family, food to eat, clothes to wear – I’m just thankful,” she said.

As for those who would not have otherwise had a Thanksgiving dinner, they’re likely the most thankful.

“Excellent really good this year,” said Paul Langdon. “It’s really nice to have something like this during the season.”

With files from Linda Nguyen