The Ottawa Mission is expecting to serve nearly 19,000 Thanksgiving meals this year, potentially 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. But preparing a holiday feast of that size takes months of planning. “Thanksgiving takes us months, actually, to prepare. We start in August for our Thanksgiving,” said Chef Rick Watson, the Mission’s director of food services. 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.”
