Thanksgiving demand is high as Regina charities plan to feed hundreds

As ovens fire up and turkeys roast across Regina, local charities are preparing to serve hundreds of Thanksgiving meals to people in need, with demand reaching an all-time high.

At Souls Harbour Rescue Mission, staff and volunteers have been cooking for weeks to feed around 500 people at their annual community dinner on Friday. Kathy Ingram, the organization’s director of finance and development, said the event has become one of the busiest of the year, requiring months of planning and hundreds of servings of food.

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“We’ve been cooking turkeys now for about three weeks,” Ingram said. “We cook them, carve them, freeze them, then warm everything up and get it ready for the big day.”

Ingram said donations from the community have kept the kitchen humming, with staff preparing more than 55 turkeys, 60 pumpkin pies, a “big pot of gravy,” and plenty of stuffing and whipped cream. She said two full-time kitchen employees and a small army of volunteers have worked tirelessly behind the scenes to make it all happen.

“Everything else is done through volunteers,” she explained. “They’ve been coming for weeks now to help us pull this off.”
Ingram said the only thing still in short supply heading into the weekend was frozen vegetables, a simple item that rounds out hundreds of plates.

Souls Harbour’s meal runs from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. at 1632 Angus Street, with no registration required.

While Souls Harbour focused on serving the feast, the Regina Food Bank is working to meet the growing needs of the community.

CEO John Bailey said the food bank used to see seasonal spikes around Thanksgiving and Christmas, but the demand has now become constant throughout the year.

“We’re not really seeing the highs and lows that we used to,” Bailey said. “It’s much more consistent. The challenge is, it’s consistently elevated.”

Bailey said the food bank’s goal is to ensure families can share a holiday meal together, with ingredients that help create a sense of connection. He called Thanksgiving a “time of community,” and said having access to food is one of the keys to helping people feel less isolated.

Behind every food hamper, Bailey added, is a network of “neighbours feeding neighbours,” from gardeners and wholesalers to donors and drivers who deliver produce by the truckload.

He said monetary donations go the farthest, since the food bank can purchase directly from farmers and wholesalers at prices “well below retail.” Every dollar donated, Bailey said, translates to 92 cents going directly to feeding the community.

With a postal strike limiting mailed donations, Bailey encouraged anyone wanting to help to visit the food bank’s website to donate or sign up for volunteer shifts.

Souls Harbour is also accepting donations of frozen vegetables before its meal begins.

“People are hungry today,” Bailey said. “We want to make sure we’re able to keep them fed.”