The Ottawa Mission served a bittersweet record 17,405 Easter meals this year, Ric Allen-Watson, the director of food services for the organization, told Capital Current. To get a sense of how much food that is, the dinners included some 7,000 pounds of turkey.
The meals were served at the downtown shelter and to underserved communities throughout the region via the Mission’s food truck program.
“This is … more than five times the number of meals we served for Easter 2019 before the pandemic. The astounding increase in hunger in our community is why we’ve expanded our food truck program so many times across our community.”
The Mission provides special holiday meals that include the traditional fixings like turkey, stuffing and potatoes, as well as regular meals every week.
Myles Dingwall, communication officer for the Mission, says there’s a growing need for meals in Ottawa with the rising cost of living and more people becoming food insecure.
The astounding increase in hunger in our community is why we’ve expanded our food truck program so many times.
Ric Allen-Watson, director of food services, Ottawa Mission
The meals are for the people who sleep in the shelter, but also for anyone in the community in need.
During Easter and Christmas, the Mission feeds about 2,000 people just in the main dining room in the Waller Street facility.
In addition, Dingwall said guests for holiday meals often say the sense of community at the events is beneficial, especially for those who have no family to gather with for the holidays.
The Mission’s clients really appreciate “meeting people in the dining room, smiling and sharing and laughing and having that social aspect,” he said.
Dingwall said the food truck program, called “Mobile Mission Meals,” started in 2020 to better meet the community’s needs when the Mission couldn’t host as many people inside the dining room.
The program has grown from five to 35 locations and has added a second truck to meet demand.
Leah Beatty, who volunteers at Carson’s Community House and the Rideau Rockcliffe Community Resource Centre, says the food truck program is very well received by the community.
“There are new faces every now and then that are learning about (the food trucks), and every time as they leave they express their gratitude,” she said.
She said there are groceries on the truck from time to time and some families in the community depend on this extra food.
Beatty has volunteered since October 2022 and that it has strengthened her connenction to her community.
“I love the community, that’s why I go,” she said. “Now that it’s been a year and a half, I’ve gotten to know a lot of them by name. I know their kids. It’s like a weekly little reunion and connection with members of my community.”
I love the community, that’s why I go. Now that it’s been a year and a half, I’ve gotten to know a lot of them by name. I know their kids. It’s like a weekly little reunion and connection with members of my community.
Leah Beatty, volunteer, Ottawa Mission food truck program
She said people who use the food truck service get to know each other and help each other.
She gave the example of a man who has been coming to the food trucks for a while who helps some of the newcomers to Canada navigate community supports and resources.
The Mission serves about 7,000 meals a week through its food truck program.
Sixty-one per cent of the Mission’s funding last year came from donations, 22.7 per cent from the City of Ottawa and 15 per cent from the Chef Ric program.
Chef Ric’s is the Mission’s social enterprise catering business and food service training program. Students in the program get training and work experience to help them get jobs in the food services industry.
The program has the dual benefit of providing opportunities for some of the Mission’s clients and generating funds for the other programs.
The food truck and the social enterprise programs were founded by Chef Allen-Watson. He said he has experienced homelessness in the past and explained that the food services training program “comes from my experience and my heart. It’s incredibly empowering when you’re supported unconditionally to change your life.”
Dingwall said the Mission’s tagline is “more than a shelter” because of the variety of programs it offers. These include addiction treatment, access to doctors and dentists, education programs, English lessons for newcomers, and support with applying to post-secondary education or finding work.
