Needy find a warm meal at Christmas

By DAVID SCHMEICHEL AND ADAM WAZNY, SUN MEDIA

Hundreds of Winnipeg’s less fortunate were treated to a turkey dinner with all the trimmings on Wednesday as volunteers at Siloam Mission served up Christmas a day ahead of schedule.

The annual event was again made possible by a small army of staff and volunteers.

‘BITTERSWEET’

“Christmas is a very bittersweet time for a lot of people,” said Siloam CEO John Mohan. “They remember past memories or things they’ve lost, or maybe they’re in a place in life that isn’t quite what they’d dreamed, so Christmas becomes this big wall that people run into.”

Among the 100 or so helpful sorts who donated their time Wednesday was Florence Squire, who’s been volunteering at the mission three times a week for the last two years.

“There’s a lot of joy, and it’s amazing how much you get out of it by doing something that encourages someone else and makes them feel better,” she said.

Many hungry souls also went to Thunderbird House yesterday for a traditional Christmas dinner. At noon, organizers of the Ma Mawi Wi Chi Itata Centre believed they had already surpassed the 130 people they served last year for the free meal and guessed the final number of diners would reach the 200 mark — an all-time high for the event.

Monkman and her son Roland were among the guests.

“Sometimes this is a hard time for people — it’s cold and you can’t get around,” she said, digging into some carrots. “This is a great thing here. Christmas should be about community and people.”

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