All the fixins

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This article was published 23/12/2018 (2503 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

One of Chris Buffington’s favourite parts of leading Siloam Mission’s annual Christmas lunch is the ‘cheerful and jolly’ atmosphere in the kitchen.

“Nobody comes in to volunteer that day in a bad mood. We have a lot of laughs,” says Buffington. “We try to make it fun for the volunteers because they’re taking time away from their families to come in and help make a difference.”

Buffington, Siloam’s chef, has been working the yearly holiday meal — which consists of turkey with all the fixings and dessert — for the past decade.

Preparation for the Dec. 24 lunch begins months in advance. This includes organizing donations and prepping the food that comes in daily from across the city.

A few days before the lunch, volunteers cut the breasts off the turkeys before refreezing the meat — something they were unable to do before Siloam’s building expansion in 2017, which doubled the space in their dining hall.

“We pull the turkeys out a few days before so we can cook them fresh — hot out of the oven, slice it on the plate and put some gravy on it,” says Buffington. “We want to do our best to make sure our community members coming in that day are getting something really special.”

Siloam requires 100 turkey breasts to feed their anticipated 600 guests, which Buffington says seems to have been the average holiday meal attendance over the past few years.

The shelter also needs 600 dinner buns, 60 litres of gravy, 250 pounds of potatoes, 120 pounds of stuffing and coleslaw, 100 pounds of frozen mixed vegetables, 75 pies and 80 cans of cranberry sauce.

‘When you’re cooking a meal for potentially 300 people it’s a little bit strategic,” says Emond. “You want to make sure all the turkeys have enough time to cook… if we need to do two or three rounds’– Daniel Emond, a volunteer with Siloam Mission for the past 14 years

“Because we’re serving a nicer dinner on those days it takes a lot more prep work,” says Buffington. “Volunteers will be doing everything from chopping cabbage to slicing turkey. They want to see what they’re doing in the kitchen is helping them make a difference.”

Luke Thiessen, Siloam Mission’s communications manager, says the holiday dinner requires more volunteers because guests are being served at their table rather than lining up.

“This year we’ll have 125 volunteers throughout the day on Christmas Eve for breakfast, lunch and dinner combined,” says Thiessen. “Fifty-eight of those will just be for the special Christmas meal at lunch, but some of the people here at breakfast also help prep for it.”

Normally Siloam serves up to 500 people each day, but the increase in guests for the Christmas meal requires having volunteer slots filled before December arrives.

“It feels like a family dinner with staff, volunteers and the community,” says Thiessen. “It’s pretty special.”

Aside from working in the kitchen, volunteers also help decorate the dining hall before the meal starts. Others collect toys to hand out to any families with children that may attend.

“A lot of these people don’t have somewhere else to go, especially if it’s a young mom with kids,” says Thiessen. “We don’t know what their situation is outside of here, but that’s something we can do to make it a little more special for them.”

Lighthouse Mission also offers a homemade holiday meal each year.

Daniel Emond has been volunteering with the organization for the past 14 years. He is also a board member, so he takes part in a lot of the preparatory work that goes into hosting their annual Christmas dinner, which falls on Dec. 24 this year.

The organization has been planning the luncheon for about a month and a half, which includes deciding what to serve and where the food will be coming from. Volunteers also sometimes have to co-ordinate donation pick-ups since not everything is dropped off.

Emond says one of the hardest things the mission deals with is not having a fully functional kitchen.

This year, they will be cooking at the Adult & Teen Challenge men’s centre. Volunteers will prepare and transport approximately 20 turkeys, while others stay at the mission to prepare potatoes, carrots, stuffing and other dishes.

“When you’re cooking a meal for potentially 300 people it’s a little bit strategic,” says Emond. “You want to make sure all the turkeys have enough time to cook… if we need to do two or three rounds.”

Oak Table is another organization that hosts yearly Christmas luncheons and activities. They have been serving Osborne Village’s homeless population out of Augustine United Church for almost 40 years.

Glynis Quinn, Oak Table’s executive director, says not knowing how many people are going to attend one of their three holiday meals is the biggest hurdle they face each year.

The organization picks the date by September and then begins organizing volunteer schedules and getting word out to the community about what they need to host the meal. Quinn says they had 218 people attend last year’s meal, up from their daily average of about 135.

Volunteers also decorate the space, bring in musical entertainment and serve guests at their table.

“They need something to look forward to,” says Quinn. “We’ve had people come in who’ve attended multiple Christmas events because having people to celebrate with is the one thing they really look forward to.”

Oak Table conducted a safety review three years ago and talked to guests about their needs. They heard organizations often hand out necessities — like socks, underwear, shampoo, conditioner and razors — as Christmas gifts.

Oak Table decided to take a different approach. Rather than collecting items they already hand out daily, they started gathering gift cards to allow their guests more autonomy in their purchases.

Quinn says most are for grocery and discount stores or fast food chains.

“People get really excited and happy about it,” says Quinn. “We’ve had people come back and tell us, ‘This is the shirt I bought with the gift card you gave me,’ or, ‘I was able to buy my kid the present he really wanted this Christmas.’”

Unlike other soup kitchens in the city, Oak Table also holds a holiday dinner in early January. Quinn says they began throwing the New Year’s lunch four years ago after seeing a ‘slump’ in their guests after Christmas festivities ended.

“In January they’re back to being isolated, vulnerable and at-risk, so we wanted to give them something to look forward to,” says Quinn. “People are already asking when we’re having it because they’re anticipating they’ll need something to lift them up.”

Quinn credits Oak Table and other organizations — like Siloam and Lighthouse — for making the holiday season more enjoyable and festive for Winnipeg’s less fortunate.

“If we didn’t have these places many of those folks wouldn’t have anywhere to go,” Quinn says. “We’ve become their family.”