It may be over a week and a half away, but planning for Thanksgiving to help the less fortunate is well underway.
Martha’s Table is one of the Kingston agencies that will once again lend a helping hand for the upcoming holiday — but it’s not business as usual.
“We have our turkeys, we need a few more turkeys but we’re getting ready to cook turkeys and we’re planning our sides,” said Ronda Candy, executive director of the Princess Street facility.
“We always do a traditional Thanksgiving dinner. Nothing is going to slow us down.”
Candy says the meal will go ahead. However the pandemic has meant a different dining experience.
“We’re not sure what to expect,” Candy said. “We typically serve about 240 people on our regular Thanksgiving dinner so we can serve exactly that many, although it’s going to be takeout only.
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“I’m really sorry to report that but we’ve got to keep everyone as safe as possible.”
Takeout will be the order of the day, at least for everyone Global News spoke with. And that includes Lunch by George at St. George’s Cathedral.
Only its Thanksgiving meal will happen on Friday, Oct. 9. As for Lionhearts Inc. Kingston, they won’t miss a beat. They’ll be serving meals for take-away as usual at McBurney Park and two other locations. Will Arnaud is with Lionhearts.
“We definitely will be there for Thanksgiving,” said Will Arnaud with Lionhearts. “We’re operating seven days a week, still serving well over 700 meals a day, no plans of slowing down.
“We’re going to be there rain or shine and once it gets to the winter we’re going to be there as well.”
If there is a bottom line, most, if not all, of these service organizations depend on the charity of others and now maybe even more then ever.
Candy says all donations help.
“Kingston has been so generous and supportive but everyone is facing a new challenge in their own lives,” Candy said. “We can’t thank them enough but we do continue to need their help.
“Whatever they can offer us it’s always appreciated.”
Arnaud agrees donations are extremely important.
“Monetary donations are really our lifeblood,” Arnaud said. “It allows us to purchase the products that we need anything from containers to different packages that go in our care packages and then to offset some of the food costs that we don’t get from donations.”