Scott Woolford had an idea to offer a meal program, and with many other people, this project got off the ground on March 5, 1996 at Robinson United. The first night 14 volunteers came out, but unfortunately no guests! As the years passed, the need grew though and by November 2010, when Robinson closed, there had been 49,106 people served.
In December, 2010 the meal transferred to Rowntree, although a huge snow storm cancelled the meal on the 7th, so the first night was the 14th. The first year at Rowntree, the meal served 3,587.
The meal consists of two types of hearty soups; hamburger bean, the most popular or chicken and rice with bread, crackers, celery and carrots with cold and hot drinks and cookies.
A large part of the funding for the meal comes from money transferred from Robinson. Money also has come from the Bank Of Montreal employees, from the U.C.W. ( United Church Women) at Robinson and from our congregation.
The meal could not run without volunteers; and we are grateful to many; in particular Western students, and nearby high school students, people from other church’s and some non-church members . We are unusual in that we do not close down in the summer . The time spent helping is enlightening for our volunteers too ; the guests range from young to old, from nearby to not so close, and relationships are formed over the years; there is more than a meal exchanged here. Unfortunately every year we see a higher attendance- in 2013 we average 80 guests per week. We can always use help, monetary or manual, so if you feel moved to help our efforts, we’d appreciate that. Please call the church office; 519-432-8075.
Thanks to Joanne Hamilton, the Chief Cook, Bottle Washer and Organizer of the Tuesday meal program.