Shelters across the city of Winnipeg celebrated Thanksgiving in a modified fashion this fall.
Among other local shelters, Main Street Project is adapting to newly implemented pandemic protocols, aiming to pull off a memorable turkey dinner amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Even with new physical distancing measures in place, the kitchen at Main Street Project is pumping out over meals over the course of an afternoon.
“With masks on, we have to use procedures now and everything is a little bit more tight I guess you can say,” says Annette Williamson, who’s been cooking at the shelter for two years, making this year her second Thanksgiving dinner at Main Street.
Staff at the shelter say just a few short months ago, a Thanksgiving dinner feeding hundreds would’ve been unimaginable.
“For a while we had to shut down our volunteer program for safety reasons, but we implemented some protocols so now we have about five volunteers a week in the kitchen, so it’s a small crew of people but they managed to pump out a lot of food,” explained Tamara Woof, Main Street Project’s food and nutrition manager.
By using shelter space across the street at 190 Disraeli, the shelter is offering as close to a traditional turkey day experience as possible.
“We don’t have a huge lineup outside because we’re able to accommodate so many people. We just keep at the tables physically distanced and then ourselves and volunteers will go and serve food to each person,” says Woof.
Dinner at Main Street Project is being served throughout the night on Thanksgiving Monday.
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