Heaping helping of goodwill

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 16/12/2014 (4094 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Fred Mattson is thankful for a lot.

But Mattson was especially grateful to be one of the recipients of an early Christmas turkey dinner Monday hosted by the Siloam Mission and prepared by nine culinary arts students from Red River College.

“If it wasn’t for this place, I wouldn’t be here,” Mattson said, pausing to enjoy a piece of his gravy-soaked turkey. His plate, garnished with veggies, turkey, stuffing and a cookie, was one of nearly 500 meals produced by the first-year chefs-in-training.

Eighteen students from the Paterson GlobalFoods Institute made the trek down from the heart of the Exchange District to Siloam on their own time. Two teams of nine served close to 1,000 people during breakfast and lunch.

Mattson spent 35 years working for the Canadian Pacific Railway before running into financial trouble after taking an early pension. He soon found himself living on the streets of Winnipeg before a friend turned him toward Siloam.

“They’ve treated me well here. They’ve treated everyone well here,” he said.

“These students, they’ve put on an incredible meal for us. It’s great to see them giving back to the community… giving back to me.” Mattson’s words are exactly what Siloam Mission hopes is said about the organization.

“It’s important that people expect to be treated with dignity by us,” said Donna-Lynn Baskin, communications manager for Siloam Mission.

“They deserve the common dignity, of not only food and nutrition, but also an experience. We all think of food as home, family and community. It’s emotional nutrition as well.

“Having culinary students, who are used to fine dining, realizing that the people we serve are foodies too. They have every right to expect that good quality. The purpose for them here is that home cooking, that care, that love.”

Two-hundred-twenty-five kilograms of turkey, 45 kg of potatoes, 45 litres of gravy and more than 35 kilograms of vegetables went into the feast and created a home-style aroma that spilled out from the kitchen and into the packed dining room.

“Everything is made from scratch,” said culinary arts instructor Scott Ball.

“It took them two days to prep all the food. There is some good stuff here, including the sage spice sausage dressing. The experience is going to leave a lasting impression on the students, too.”

The turkeys were donated by the Manitoba Turkey Producers and Granny’s Poultry Co-operative Ltd. The students from the school’s baking class supplied the cookies.

“I’ve been in places, too, where it is tough to make ends meet,” said first-year culinary student, Jeff Davey. “A good meal is a good thing for anyone to have.”

Mayor Brian Bowman, provincial cabinet minister Kevin Chief and David Rew, interim president and CEO of Red River College, were on hand serving the plates.

“It’s our community, and it’s important that we give back, especially at this time of year,” Rew said.

“The food that the students have produced is really high quality. It is important for them to do that, serve high-quality food, and it’s important to those receiving it.”

sbilleck@freepress.mb.ca