The Ottawa Mission served more than 19,000 Thanksgiving meals this year, setting another record as the need for food assistance continues to grow across the capital. Thousands gathered at the downtown shelter on Monday for a traditional Thanksgiving dinner, complete with turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, vegetables and pumpkin and apple pie. In a Monday evening news release, the Mission said they had served a total of 19,684 meals, a new record for the service. According to the Mission, those meals were made up of 8,500 pounds of turkey, 3,500 pounds of peeled potatoes 2,000 pounds of glazed fresh carrots, 150 gallons of gravy and 900 lentil loaves. Chef Rick Watson, the Mission’s director of food services, says it takes months of planning to prepare the feast. “Thanksgiving takes us months, actually, to prepare. We start in August for our Thanksgiving,” Watson said. Watson says staff and volunteers prepared more than 800 turkeys for meals served throughout the Thanksgiving holiday period. And the effort stretches well beyond the Mission’s downtown location. The organization’s food trucks have been travelling across Ottawa, bringing Thanksgiving meals to people in need at dozens of stops throughout the city. “We’ve had the food truck out in the community at 42 different stops,” said Ottawa Mission CEO Peter Tilley. “The food trucks are going to do close to 16,000 meals this week. And I think here alone we’re going to do close to 3,000 today.” If those estimates hold, the Mission would surpass last year’s record of 18,271 Thanksgiving meals. The growing demand comes as rising grocery prices continue to put pressure on both those seeking help and the organizations providing it. Tilley says the increasing cost of food makes community support especially important. “Just like anybody who is shopping in a grocery store, we always reach out to our donors in this great community here, and somehow they always come through to help us cover those costs,” he said. The Mission serves people experiencing homelessness, those at risk of losing their housing, working families, seniors and others struggling to make ends meet. But Tilley says the annual Thanksgiving dinner is about more than providing a hot meal. For many guests, it’s also an opportunity to spend the holiday with others instead of being alone. “Beyond all of that, and the great food, it’s a sense of community and belonging for so many,” he said. “We become their family. The staff, the volunteers, everybody [who puts] on this feast becomes the family for somebody who would otherwise be at home alone.”
