Holiday helpings

With more than 300 residents expected to attend Salvation Army’s Christmas dinner, Herbert Kraus says feeding that many mouths at once is something he’s used to.

The 48-year-old-chef has volunteered to cook at the annual Salvation Army and Valhalla Inn dinner for eight years. He and the other cooks started on the turkey, gravy, mashed potatoes and plum pudding well before any hungry patrons arrived for their Sunday meal.

Kraus, who is from Austria, spent a few years in Toronto and Jamaica before moving to Thunder Bay in 2002 to become the Valhalla Inn’s executive chef. He said when he heard about the dinner he wanted to get involved and help provide those in need with a Christmas dinner.

Since he started volunteering, it has become a tradition for the veteran chef to cook the holiday meal. He said he`s while he is used to serving large groups of people, preparing the meal is still a lot of work.

"It’s a good thing that we do," Kraus said. "We can sacrifice one day for the homeless and the needy. Putting the dinner together takes a lot of work. In our kitchen, we have five or six people preparing the meal. We’re roasting about 25 large turkeys and cooking about 75 pounds worth of potatoes."

René Gurtner, general manager at the Valhalla Inn, said the annual dinner started 17 years ago because the hotel staff wanted to give something back to the community and found the dinner to be an excellent way to do so.

He said about 25 members of his staff volunteered and their families came to help at the dinner. Even Gurtner’s daughters came to the help. Kiara, 13, and Olivia, 11, have been helping at the annual dinner for three years.

"The experience for the people volunteering to come out here and really make a difference in the community is priceless," Gurtner said. "I wanted my family to volunteer to understand and to see how fortunate we are. There are other people in the community that aren’t as fortunate as us. I think that experience its self will help them grow up to be very mindful and better people."

Gail Kromm, a Salvation Army spokesperson, said each year the demand for the dinners and the soup van increases. Without help from organizations such as the Valhalla Inn, she said it would be difficult to put on a dinner like the on Sunday without assistance.

"It would be hard for us financially to provide everything for a meal like this," Kromm said. "The Valhalla Inn’s sponsorship for the meal is vital in carrying this on. Just because you don’t have a lot of money doesn’t mean you shouldn’t have something special around Christmas and we’re very honoured and pleased to provide that for people."