1 day Ago By Catherine Morrison
Share this Story : Ottawa shelters offering dinners and gifts for residents over the holidays Copy Link Email X Reddit Pinterest LinkedIn Tumblr Breadcrumb Trail Links News Local News Ottawa shelters offering dinners and gifts for residents over the holidays The Shepherds of Good Hope expected “a few hundred people” for breakfast, lunch and dinner on Christmas Day. Get the latest from Catherine Morrison straight to your inbox Sign Up Author of the article: Catherine Morrison Published Dec 25, 2024 • Last updated 7 minutes ago • 3 minute read Join the conversation You can save this article by registering for free here . Or sign-in if you have an account.
Azery Sharrons was grateful for the holiday meal Wednesday. The local 70 year old is living at Shepherds when there's room. Sometimes he lives outside and is frightened he might freeze to death one night, he says.
Photo by JULIE OLIVER / Postmedia Article content People lined up inside the Shepherds of Good Hope on Christmas Day for a homemade holiday lunch. Husa Delice, who has been volunteering at the shelter since 2022, was one of several volunteers who was there to help out. He said the Shepherds of Good Hope was “a wonderful place” where he was able to meet a lot of amazing people.
Delice said community members were “happy” and “smiling.” Advertisement 2 Story continues below This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada.
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Activate your Online Access Now Article content “It’s cold out, they need to be warm together,” said Delice, who volunteers three days a week. Seventy-year-old Azery Sharrons, who is living in the shelter’s indoor overflow area, was one of many who enjoyed a delicious meal, which offered all of the classic holiday fixings. Worried about the potential of freezing outside during the winter months, Sharrons said the Christmas Day dinner was “very good.
” Just a few of the volunteers at Shepherds that make things like holiday lunches possible. Photo by JULIE OLIVER / Postmedia The shelter expected “a few hundred people” for breakfast, lunch and dinner on Christmas Day, which followed their usual numbers. On Boxing Day, Shepherds of Good Hope will have a group of Christmas carollers come to the kitchen to serenade guests during the afternoon.
They will also be handing out gifts to those who drop by, with community members encouraged to drop off gifts, coffee, warm socks, hats, mitts and toiletries for people experiencing homelessness. Other items, like mugs, plates and silverware, are also very helpful for the community kitchen, as well as blankets and pillows for those staying in the shelter. On top of the festivities at their community kitchen on Murray Street, the Shepherds of Good Hope team has brought the party to their five supportive housing residences, serving Christmas dinner and giving out gifts.
People who spent Christmas Eve in the shelter were also given gift bags with socks, toiletries and a deck of cards. Evening Update The Ottawa Citizen’s best journalism, delivered directly to your inbox by 7 p.m.
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We encountered an issue signing you up. Please try again Article content Advertisement 3 Story continues below This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Article content Head Chef and food service manager at Shepherds, Peter Gareau in his kitchen behind the dining hall at the mission.
Photo by JULIE OLIVER / Postmedia Peter Gareau, the food services manager at the Shepherds of Good Hope, said weeks of prep goes into Christmas Day. While the team was initially nervous about not having enough turkeys, he said a couple of “very generous donors” fixed that problem, with one woman encouraging those in her neighbourhood to donate turkeys that will be enjoyed all week long. Gareau said that, for a lot of clients, having a holiday meal likely “brings them back to their childhood when things were very different.
” “Nobody grew up choosing this lifestyle,” Gareau said. “Anything that can help them, maybe that helps trigger something so that they can participate in one of our programs.” Husa Delice is one of the many volunteers at Shepherds that make special lunches over the holidays possible.
Photo by JULIE OLIVER / Postmedia Shepherds of Good Hope isn’t the only organization that put on holiday celebrations. Chris O’Gorman, the acting director of development and communications for Cornerstone Housing for Women, said the organization planned a holiday gift program, collecting donations from the community to be used for 321 gift bags for those in the emergency shelter and supportive housing programs. O’Gorman said the gift bags, delivered on Christmas morning, show people that “their community cares about them.
” Advertisement 4 Story continues below This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Article content The group also partnered with Restaurant 18, which cooked hundreds of turkey dinners for residents. Husa Delice washes dishes in the back of the kitchen — unbelievably his favourite task volunteering at Shepherds.
Photo by JULIE OLIVER / Postmedia Peter Tilley, the CEO of the Ottawa Mission, said that, while the organization celebrated its community Christmas dinner a week ago, it also put on a regular Christmas meal for residents and other members of the community during the day on Dec. 25. The group also had more than 200 donations from a group called Backpacks for the Homeless, which were placed on residents’ beds by frontline staff who played the roles of elves at 3 a.
m. on Christmas morning. The packs had everything from socks, to hats, to chocolates and a Tim Hortons gift card.
On Christmas Day, Tilley said the Ottawa Mission would also leave its chapel open, playing Christmas movies all day long. “It’s not always pleasant memories at Christmas and the other unpleasant piece is, at the end of the day, you’re in a homeless shelter in downtown Ottawa in a dorm room bed by yourself, and that’s a very lonely feeling,” Tilley said, adding that no one thinks they’ll grow up to spend Christmas at a homeless shelter. “So we try and make it as comforting as possible and as rewarding as possible for people to be here.
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