Charitable groups in Calgary didn’t take time off for Thanksgiving Monday and continued to serve the community through several initiatives aimed to support the less fortunate.<\/p>\n
Ahead of the long weekend, the Salvation Army began a new monthly community meal program that will take place on the first Wednesday of every month, said Glenmore temple pastor Major Dena Hepditch.<\/p>\n
it will take place at their temple located along 921 68th Ave SW, just off Glenmore trail and everyone is invited, she said.<\/p>\n
“It is for our clients, those who are homeless,those who are food insecure but it is also for our congregation, our neighbors, donors, volunteers and those new to Canada,” Hepditch said. “It’s a place where the whole community can just come together around a common table. No stigma and then we can also better get to know the needs of our community in conversation.”<\/p>\n
Another initiative the Army is conducting over Thanksgiving will help provide socks and underwear to those in need.<\/p>\n
This was brought to their attention after another member highlighted that this was a major concern by their outreach teams that deal with their homeless clients on Calgary’s streets.<\/p>\n
“Recently somebody discovered a lady who had no underwear, no pants and she just had a jacket or something tied around herself to cover herself,” Hepditch said. “Everybody deserves dignity, respect and it was a way that we could help. Generally, on thanksgiving we collect food for harvest time and people think about all of our blessings food-wise, but we were challenged kind of to remember those who need the very basics of underwear.”<\/p>\n
On Sunday, their congregation collected hundreds of socks and underwear that filled five large bins, she said.<\/p>\n
These donations will be given to the outreach team that will give them to anyone they encounter on Calgary’s city streets.<\/p>\n
The two new programs are part of a wide array of services offered to the community by group, including their new “Free Bread Friday” tea and coffee at their temple, ESL classes and seasonal initiatives throughout the year.<\/p>\n
With Christmas on the horizon, the Army is always looking for more volunteers to help with their various programs including the Christmas Kettles over the holidays, Hepditch said.<\/p>\n
“If people can be present there and just smile, wish people Merry Christmas or say hello to them and wish them a good day, that would be a great way to volunteer for the Salvation Army,” She said. “There’s other ways between our food bank, packing backpacks for back-to-school time, the summer toy programs that we do at Christmas collecting and distributing the toys, so there’s many ways that people can serve.”<\/p>\n
Thanksgiving’s a little warmer at the Drop-In Centre, says CEO<\/p>\n
At the Drop-In Centre in downtown Calgary, Thanksgiving is marked with a warm meal, a little comfort and a reminder that the community is built by showing up for one another, said president and CEO Sandra Clarkson.<\/p>\n
Through the generosity of the North Hill Lions Club, the people staying at the Centre will be served a traditional Thanksgiving dinner of roast turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, vegetables and a pie for dessert, she said.<\/p>\n
“Sponsored meals like these mean more than what’s on the plate,” Clarkson said. “They bring a sense of occasion, create moments of comfort and connection, and help make holidays feel a little more special for people who may be facing difficult circumstances.”<\/p>\n
Providing meals is an essential part of their work and the generosity of community partners that go a step further are a large part of reminding people that they are part of a community that cares, she said.<\/p>\n
“We are deeply grateful to the North Hill Lions Club for helping make Thanksgiving a little warmer today,” Clarkson said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Charitable groups in Calgary didn’t take time off for Thanksgiving Monday and continued to serve the community through…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":931615,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194293],"tags":[49,2798,48],"class_list":["post-931614","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-calgary","tag-ca","tag-calgary","tag-canada"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/931614","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=931614"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/931614\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/931615"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=931614"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=931614"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=931614"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}