It all started with a Facebook post.
“Wednesday morning I posted on a community forum page on Facebook stating no one should feel alone or hungry for Thanksgiving,” Vernon resident Nicole Lafreniere said. “And from there the response has just exploded.”
Lafreniere made the post on the “Vernon and Area Community Forum” which generated a lot of responses. One of the responses was from a Coldstream resident named Tina Schuilenberg.
“I have experienced loneliness and hunger and being completely alone on the holidays and it is not a feeling anyone needs to feel,” an emotional Schuilenberg said.
Schuilenbern and Lafreniere along with a number of other area residents decided to band together and put on a free Thanksgiving meal for anyone wishing to come.
The idea caught on and more volunteers came forward to help. People along with grocery stores donated turkeys,vegetables, stuffing and all kinds of other items to make the event possible.
Schuilenberg opened up her home to host the meal.
“Everyone just pulled together,” Schuilenberg said. “The donations and the community have been so amazing, to pull this together in three days. I am floored, absolutely floored,”
The free meal is being offered both on Saturday and Sunday. Anyone wishing to attend can do so. If possible, organizers are asking for a food bank donation. They’re also collecting donations of winter clothing for those in need in the community.
The address is 8906 Aberdeen Road in Coldstream.
Sunday’s meal takes place from 11 a.m until 7 p.m.