Ottawa Mission seeking donations of turkeys for annual Thanksgiving dinner

Volunteers serving Thanksgiving meals to the community at the Ottawa Mission on Oct. 14, 2024. (Kimberley Johnson/CTV News Ottawa)

The Ottawa Mission says it anticipates serving as many as 17,000 meals this Thanksgiving and with a postal strike affecting mailed-in donations, it is seeking help from the public.

The Mission serves thousands of pounds of turkey with all the trimmings every Thanksgiving. This year’s meal will be held on Oct. 13, but the Mission’s food truck program will also be serving meals throughout the community all next week.

“It will take about 7,000 pounds of turkey, or 700 to 800 turkeys, to feed everyone who comes to our special Thanksgiving dinner,” says Chef Ric Watson, Director of Food Services at The Mission. “Our kitchen volunteers and staff are working very hard to ensure that everyone will have a delicious turkey dinner by preparing for this very special event in advance.”

The Ottawa Mission is asking for donations of frozen turkeys and cash to help prepare this year’s dinner. In addition to the turkeys, the Mission says it will need 3,500 pounds of potatoes, 2,000 pounds of carrots, 150 gallons of gravy and 900 vegetarian quiches.

“This year because of the Canada Post strike, our donations have been severely affected yet again, which makes turkey donations even more critical,” the Mission says in a news release. “Monetary donations to support the Thanksgiving meal are also appreciated.”

Donations of frozen turkeys can be made between 7 a.m. and 5 p.m. at the garage entrance to the Ottawa Mission at the corner of Waller and Besserer streets.

“Please ring the bell and a staff-person will arrive to receive your donation,” the Mission says.

Monetary donations can be made online at ottawamission.com, by phone at 613-234-1155 between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m., or in person at 35 Waller St.

Last Thanksgiving, the Mission said it served 17,257 meals in the week leading up to the holiday, including 2,800 on Thanksgiving Day. The Mission says it serves around 3,000 meals every day to shelter residents and other people in need in the community.

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