Feeding the neighbourhood

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This article was published 06/10/2017 (3092 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

For over 50 years, volunteers at the Holy Eucharist Church (505 Watt St.) have been supplying the neighbourhood with handmade traditional Ukrainian perogies.

Starting bright and early Wednesday mornings, an average of eight 50-pound bags of potatoes are peeled and boiled. The next morning, around 5:30 a.m., between 60 and 70 volunteers start arriving at the church to prepare the dough, and then start assembling perogies.

“There used to be more of us,” Frances Bodykevich, who has been volunteering with the group for over 15 years, said as she cut dough into balls ready for rolling.

About a dozen women roll and cut the dough, while a dozen men ball the potato filling. The empty shells are then passed a couple dozen women sitting around long tables, waiting to delicately pinch the perogies closed. After that, the perogies are boiled, cooled, and bagged, and then set out for pick-up.

Each week, over 585 dozen perogies are sold to those who place orders weeks in advance. Another 160 dozen are sold to the volunteers who made them.

While some of the volunteers, like Rosalie Shupenia who has been helping roll the dough each week for the last three years, are relatively new to the group, others have been showing up each week at Holy Eucharist for 10, 20, or even 30 years. And while the number of volunteers may be in gradual decline, their product is still in high demand.

Perogies are sold for $6 per dozen, and the funds raised go to the church. Orders are placed by calling 204-667-6304 and leaving a message. Organizers say that it is necessary to order at least a few weeks in advance.

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