Nova Scotia charity serving 600 free turkey dinners for Christmas

CITYnews halifax / By Cassidy McMackon, The Canadian Press

HALIFAX — A Nova Scotia charity is planning to serve at least 600 free traditional dinners over Christmas Eve and Christmas Day to spread a little bit of holiday cheer.

The Souls Harbour Rescue Mission is offering a sit-down turkey dinner with all the fixings for people who need “food or friends” at its locations across the province. It’s the first time the group is serving holiday meals since it started providing community service in 2010.

Michelle Porter, the CEO, says the charity has been raising funds for Christmas festivities since November and estimates the cost of its events during the holiday season will be around $1 million.

Meals will differ slightly at mission across the province, but Porter says all plates will have turkey, potatoes, cranberry, gravy and some vegetables. As well, people who attend will receive a Christmas stocking that includes a mini hygiene set and a few treats like chocolate, gloves and socks.

In the Halifax suburb of Lower Sackville on Tuesday, men, women and children of all ages lined up for food at the Souls Harbour mission. They chatted about the recent snowfall and how the region was in for its first white Christmas in several years.

Marni Yuke, the chief program officer at the charity, estimated that her group will feed about 120 people in Lower Sackville on Christmas Eve. She said the preparations for the event started the previous day with volunteers coming together to prep veggies and cook turkeys.

“The holidays can be a really difficult time for some people, whether they have difficult relationships with family or have lost a loved one over the years. We like to have a safe place where people can come and just have a really warm meal, warm environment and feel the love,” Yuke said in an interview at the event.

“It takes a community to bring everything together.”

Gillian Davidson has volunteered with the charity for the last year and a half and says she was at the church the previous day chopping and peeling carrots, squash and turnips. She said she got involved because she is concerned about food insecurity within the community.

The turkey dinners, she said, offer people a chance to spend Christmas with friends. “It’s so heartwarming,” she said.

The charity said it planned to feed about 400 people in Lower Sackville, Bridgewater, Truro and Sydney Mines on Tuesday, and another 200 people in Halifax on Christmas Day.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 24, 2024.

Cassidy McMackon, The Canadian Press