SASKATOON – Thanksgiving weekend is upon us and people Good Samaritans in Saskatoon have been very generous in donating time and food to those less fortunate. City Centre Church organized a service and free Thanksgiving feast Sunday afternoon.
“We’ve been doing this for 15 years now. We open up our facility to do a Thanksgiving dinner for the people in the inner city. On average we have about 500 to 700 people coming out on thanksgiving … plus a few hundred extra show up for the meal, which are always welcome,” said pastor James Randall.
This meal is part of a larger initiative between several churches in the city.
“This is a city-wide effort. We have about five or six churches come and serve the meal. I think we have 100 volunteers. Eighty from outside of City Centre Church that help us put this event on every year,” said Randall.
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A turkey lunch for those in need is also available Monday at the Friendship Inn across the street.
“We are planning to cook 60 turkeys and we’re hoping to do meals for 1,500 to 1,700 people,” said Amy Bratton, volunteer and event coordinator.
Organizers said they couldn’t have done it without all of the hard work from volunteers.
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“It has been absolutely wonderful, we’ve had so many volunteers. Everything is ready to be cooked Monday morning,” said kitchen manager Tyler Friesen.
A lot of food preparation went into creating such a large meal, but it will all be worth it come Monday.
“Turkey, gravy, and mashed potatoes are all on the menu. Stuffing, cranberry sauce and carrots. We will gladly serve a big celebratory meal to celebrate thanksgiving,” said Bratton.
The hard work and generosity of the community is certainly something to be thankful for.
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