UGM serves up thousands of turkey dinners for Thanksgiving meal
Posted October 14, 2019 3:09 pm.
Last Updated October 14, 2019 3:20 pm.
VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – Thousands of pounds of turkey, mashed potatoes, and vegetables are being served up to the less fortunate today by a team of volunteers.
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Jeremy Hunka with Union Gospel Mission says with homelessness being at an all time high in Vancouver, a hot meal can make all the difference.
“We want to welcome as many people here as we can, remind them that there is hope,” he says.
“Use the meal to connect them to our life-changing program, so that’s why we say ‘a miracle begins with a meal.’ ”
Incredible to have @IsabelleRaghem and @mary_cranston volunteering with us today! Thanks to every single person helping us serve 3,000 #Thanksgiving meals to our homeless guests. Happy #Thanksgiving @BT_Vancouver @CityNewsVAN pic.twitter.com/RedUw7TvNw
— Union Gospel Mission (@ugm) October 14, 2019
And once they have their meal, he hopes they can connect people with housing and social services.
“As soon as they come in, they connect, and they realize, hey, UGM has a recovery program, UGM has housing, shelter, career development counselling. It’s a really beautiful thing to get that many people in there and start connecting them to our programs,” Hunka says.
This year mark the 30th year the UGM has hosted a Thanksgiving dinner, with volunteers serving thousands of meals throughout the day.
