THUNDER BAY – Michael Quibell is looking forward to the day when he can once again sit down with patrons of the Dew Drop Inn for a meal.
In the meantime, though, the soup kitchen isn’t letting up on its giving tradition, offering hundreds of Easter meals to go Sunday afternoon to respect COVID-19 health measures.
The turkey dinner is a community effort, Quibell said, made possible with the help of volunteers who helped prepare and serve it, as well as community groups that support the Dew Drop Inn.
The 500 pounds worth of turkey on hand Sunday was cooked by the Regional Food Distribution Association (RFDA) at its commercial grade kitchen, for example.
The meal was rounded out with potatoes, gravy, vegetables, a roll, and apple crisp. The Dew Drop traditionally offers the hot turkey dinner at Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Easter.
With the usual sit-down meal cancelled, volunteers offered the hot meals to go, or a bagged lunch for those who preferred it, from behind a plexiglass barrier.
“It’s harder to have that social connection,” said Quibell. “We try our best, but basically it’s grab and go.”
Despite the limitations, long-time volunteer Gary Christian said it was more important than ever to offer a hot meal and at least a few words of kindness, with the pandemic taking a clear toll.
“People are struggling right now,” he said. “The pandemic has made it worse. People are anxious, they’re scared.”
The Dew Drop has seen demand, and its costs, rise consistently over the past two years, Quibell said.
The charity, which is associated with St. Andrew’s Church, reported setting new records for the number of meals it served in both 2019 and 2020, topping 100,000 meals last year.
“We’re seeing more and more people, especially now with COVID, because of interruptions in employment,” Quibell said. “Numbers are on the rise.”
During the pandemic, additional funding from the United Way and Thunder Bay Community Foundation have helped support the extra costs, partly driven by the necessity of providing meals to go.
Need was rising well before the pandemic, Christian suggested. Along with his family, he has volunteered at the Dew Drop for 12 years.
In that time, he’s noticed a major increase in the number of seniors accessing meals.
Since the pandemic hit, they’ve been joined by an influx of people in their 20s and 30s, and families with young children, said his daughter Jade.
Regardless of who could use a hand, they say they’re simply happy to help.
“We started [volunteering] as something to do as a family, as a tradition,” said Jade. “It’s just kind of grown, and it’s something we look forward to every year.”
