As Shelter House got ready to serve its annual Thanksgiving Day meal, the director reminds people in Thunder Bay that hunger is growing every day.
Shelter House’s executive director Cal Rankin said food banks and soup kitchens have become institutionalized in Canada. The demand for services like Shelter House is growing all the time and Rankin said he’s seeing more and more people from the working poor depending on the shelter.
“I think it’s sad that so may people depend on food banks and soup kitchens for this type of service,” Rankin said Monday as a long line of people stretched along the back of Shelter House waiting for the 2 p.m. Thanksgiving dinner.
Volunteers at Shelter House cooked over 20 turkeys for the day and another 15 hams. Like 95 per cent of the food at Shelter House, the meal was donated by the community. Rankin said he expects up to 500 people at the two dinners, another one being held Monday at 7 p.m. Shelter House is always grateful for the community support Rankin said.
“We’re very lucky to have so many people want to come and help us at Shelter House to meet our need here.”
One of those volunteers is Katimavik’s Nick Shalagan. As project leader, Shalagan oversaw 10 people in the national service learning program who just arrived in Thunder Bay a few days ago. Getting the youth, aged 17 to 21, to volunteer is an important part of the Katimavik program he said.
“It’s definitely a volunteering opportunity that will allow them to see Thunder Bay and what’s happening in the community,” Shalagan said.
