The final touches are being put on Thanksgiving meals at the St. Vincent de Paul Society of Kingston for the upcoming weekend.
“Squash, apple and coconut soup spiced with cinnamon and star anise, and then we have the full turkey dinner, the stuffing, mashed potatoes, corn, green beans, gravy of course,” Food Service Supervisor Thomas Elia recounts.
But putting on the meal at St. Vincent’s and Martha’s Table is becoming a challenge for the charities.
Both organizations are expecting to be serving up more meals this Thanksgiving than they ever have in the past.
“Traditionally we serve 350 meals pre-pandemic, and this year we’re cooking for about 500,” says Martha’s Table Executive Director Rhonda Candy.
And St. Vincent de Paul Executive Director Judy Fyfe has similar estimates.
“We estimated in the past we might serve 120, 140 people at the outset,” Fyfe says. “We are expecting 400.”
And combine that with increasing food prices, both organizations say they are struggling just to get by.
“We used to be able to shop around, see what was on sale,” says Fyfe. “When you’re serving 78 meals that’s totally possible, but when you’re serving 358 meals it is not.”
St. Vincent de Paul serves just shy of 360 meals every day in their meal program — but the struggle to provide meals continues, as donations are down.
“It’s a really bad combination and, I mean, Kingstonians have been so generous and they’re doing what they can, but everyone’s feeling that pinch,” Candy says.
Those feeling that pinch seems to include the charities that serve them.
“Since January of 2020 we’ve seen a total increase in our food budget, just at the basic food level, of 15.9%,” says Elia. “And that doesn’t include dairy or protein.”
Together, Martha’s Table and St. Vincent de Paul are on track to serve at least 230,000 meals in 2022 — approximately 1,000 of them this Thanksgiving weekend.
While more hungry mouths to feed is not something to be thankful for, they know that their efforts will be more than appreciated.
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