Providing a hot meal during freezing temperatures

by Maritime
Categories: News Archive
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    The temperature reads -26 C with the wind chill on a Wednesday evening in downtown Halifax. The bitter wind bites through mittens and coats as men and women line up outside The Salvation Army Community Response Unit (CRU) for a steaming bowl of home-made Beefaroni.

    Jim lives up the street from where the CRU is parked, with his roommates, most of whom are physically unable to make the journey from their apartment. Jim arrives every week to pick up enough food for himself and those he lives with.

    “I’ve been coming to get food from the truck ever since they first began handing it out,” says Jim. “The people I live with are happy for a hot meal every Wednesday night. On Friday mornings I volunteer at The Presbyterian Church of St. David. They give out food in the morning, and I help set up the tables and chairs. Without these types of programs, we sometimes wouldn’t have anything to eat.”

    The feeding programs run by The Salvation Army throughout the city provide a place for people to escape from the cold weather and find people that they come to know as family.

    “In 2009 my husband passed away at 39 years of age,” says Gail. “At the time, I was going to school for my General Education Diploma. It was so hard for me to continue going to school; I didn’t think I could do it. It was only with the support of my Salvation Army family that I was able to keep working and graduate in 2012. When you walk in the door to get a meal at one of their facilities, you feel welcomed. They don’t label me as an outcast or someone who is poor. The food is great too. I always make sure I thank the kitchen staff, because they do such a wonderful job.”

    Every Wednesday night at 5:30 p.m. our CRU is parked outside of the old library, on Spring Garden Road, to hand out a hot meal. In Saint John, their CRU continues to serve the community as well. Each week, on Tuesday and Friday, it travels around to the various food banks in the city and serves food to people as they come and go. It also recently partnered with St. Patrick’s School to deliver lunch to the students each Monday.