HALIFAX - Souls Harbour Rescue Mission provides food, shelter and other forms of assistance for Nova Scotians each day. But on Friday, the non-profit facility started the holiday weekend early. “Today was Thanksgiving at Souls Harbour,” said CEO Michelle Porter, as everyone who visited received a midday, multi-course, free turkey dinner with all the fixings. By noon, the dining room was jampacked with a lineup outside of people waiting to enter. “The message is, we all belong and this is about gratitude and celebration,” Porter said. “And we all celebrate together.” At a time when the need has increased to provide food for people who cannot afford groceries, the facility typically feeds hundreds each week. Provincewide, Porter said on Friday alone, they were providing more than 2,000 Thanksgiving meals for men, women and children. “Big picture, Souls Harbour has 14 locations in Nova Scotia and nine of our drop-in centres are having a Thanksgiving dinner,” said Porter, who acknowledged the non-profit now provides food for more people than ever before. “This year, we opened two new Nova Scotia-based drop-in centres in Yarmouth and Dartmouth, and this will be their first Thanksgiving,” she said. “It does warm my heart that we can do that, but it also means that there is a cost-of-living factor that is impacting our neighbours.” Laurie Thibodeau comes to Souls Harbour for food, usually each day. She knows the volunteers and staff are there to serve, and she expressed her gratitude for the continued assistance. “They make you feel welcome and feel at home,” said Thibodeau, who added the festive Thanksgiving vibe made the day feel even more special. “I am really happy, with honest and amazing appreciation and I am grateful for that.” Porter said the pre-holiday weekend event captured what she believed to be the true meaning of Thanksgiving – showing generosity toward people who live in the community and often go hungry. “The best part of my job is to be able to serve more than 2,000 people a Thanksgiving meal,” she said. “Never in my life did I think we would get numbers like that here in Nova Scotia, and it saddens me. “But at the same time, it brings me joy to know we are helping that many people,” she added.
