Ottawa Mission serves record-breaking number of Thanksgiving meals

The Ottawa Mission very nearly fell short of the number of donated turkeys required to make the Thanksgiving meal possible, CEO Peter Tilley says.

Published Oct 09, 2023 • Last updated 9 hours ago • 2 minute read

Seventeen-year-old Noah Berthelotte, who has been in the system since he was 12 years old, he said, quietly says grace before the meal is served. “Life has its ups and downs,” he said, “but this is nice today.” Photo by Julie Oliver /Postmedia

The Ottawa Mission set a grim record over Thanksgiving.

A record 16,496 meals were served over the weekend, which marked the first time the Mission had opened its dining to the community for Thanksgiving since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Leading up to Thanksgiving, meals were also served across the city from a food truck.

All told, more than 6,000 pounds of turkey and dressing, 3,000 pounds of mashed potatoes, 2,000 pounds of carrots and 100 gallons of gravy came out of the Ottawa Mission’s kitchen.

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The Mission very nearly fell short of the number of donated turkeys required to make the Thanksgiving meals possible, said Peter Tilley, CEO of the men’s homeless shelter.

“We put out a call on social media that we’d be short of our goal,” he said Monday, “and the public responded. We had people dropping off turkeys all day Thursday, Friday and throughout the weekend.”

With volunteers like Coun. Rawlson King (second from right) behind him, Ottawa Mission CEO Peter Tilley welcomed all the guests and volunteers before dinner got underway. Photo by Julie Oliver /Postmedia

The Mission was “very fortunate,” Tilley said, with 500 turkeys donated and an additional 100 turkeys purchased by the Mission. A $10,000 cash donation was also a part of the “amazing response,” Tilley added.

Tilley noted the high cost of groceries could mean donating pricey food like turkeys is now out-of-budget for some families.

“I was thinking, no wonder donations were originally down,” he said. “The cost of turkeys is so high compared to last year. I was seeing $47, $48, $54 for a turkey.”

Ahead of Thanksgiving weekend, Industry Minister François-Philippe Champagne asked all major grocery firms for a plan to lower prices, with the government threatening new tax measures if the companies failed to deliver. Champagne said he believes there will be a noticeable decrease soon, though he didn’t specify how quickly prices might fall, or by how much.

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Julie Archambault (right) was one of the many guests at the Mission Monday. Photo by Julie Oliver /Postmedia

Dalhousie University’s Food Price Report forecasted food prices would increase by five to seven per cent in 2023, after prices rose by more than 10 per cent the year prior.

Food Banks Canada recently unveiled its first poverty report card, and gave nearly every province a failing grade, saying no government shows sufficient progress in reducing poverty in the face of rising costs for food and housing.

Tilley says the Mission has been serving refugees and asylum seekers “like never before,” with people coming to Canada from other countries and not being able to find housing.

Seventeen-year-old Noah Berthelotte, who has been in the system since he was 12 years old, he said, remarked of the spread that included turkey with all the fixings that, “Life has its ups and downs but this is nice today.” Photo by Julie Oliver /Postmedia

“The women, the children,” he said, “it’s always hard to see we’re their place of refuge, a place of sanctity, to come for a Thanksgiving meal, their safe harbour.”

In years past, the dining room had been used only to serve those living in the Mission’s homeless shelter, with takeout meals being doled out in containers.

Tilley summed up the Thanksgiving weekend with just one word: gratitude.

“As rewarding as it is for the guests under our roof to get a sense of community and a warm meal, it’s rewarding for us too,” he said. “For staff and volunteers, it’s so uplifting. We’ll all go home tonight walking on Cloud 9, knowing we’ve done a good day’s service.”

Even in the rain, a lineup formed around the block Monday for the Mission’s dinner. Photo by Julie Oliver /Postmedia More than 2,000 meals were expected to be served Monday at the Ottawa Mission for its first in-person Thanksgiving dinner in four years because of COVID. Photo by Julie Oliver /Postmedia “It feels good to be back inside” said Gerard O’Hare, who’s been coming to the mission for over 20 years. Photo by Julie Oliver /Postmedia Guest Eric Feschuk gets served by one of the volunteers. He said he was “so grateful” for the Thanksgiving spread. Photo by Julie Oliver /Postmedia CEO of the Ottawa Mission, Peter Tilley (right), shares a laugh with guest Julie Archambault during the meal. Photo by Julie Oliver /Postmedia Guest Eric Feschuk takes his turkey dinner to the table. Photo by Julie Oliver /Postmedia