On a day of giving and thanks, volunteers and staff at The Gathering Place soup kitchen in North Bay spent part of their holiday on Monday serving a turkey lunch for the homeless, hungry and lonely to offset the brisk temperatures.
Debbie St. Jean and her daughter, Crystal, were eating with a few friends at a table.
"I'm struggling with all the prices of stuff right now," Debbie said.
"Inflation has hit a lot of people hard," Crystal said.
Michelle Fuller was sitting with the St. Jean family. She's grateful for a Thanksgiving lunch.
"A lot of people don't have family to help them out," Fuller said.
"So, it's good that they're going to get a nice, warm meal."
The menu includes a serving of turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, cranberries, coffee and dessert.
A donation of gift cards provided by the food delivery company DoorDash covered the cost of most of the groceries for the meal, officials said.
"We're prepping for 300 people. Last year, we were at 275 and we'll probably have a few more than we normally do," said Dennis Chippa, the executive director of The Gathering Place.
"We've seen a lot more seniors and a lot more women than we have in the past."
Volunteers and staff have been preparing for the lunch throughout the last week, peeling vegetables and getting groceries.
On Monday, they were in the kitchen cooking and serving the food while a local bakery and volunteers stopped by to drop off buns and tarts.
"We have a great group of volunteers and staff, of course, who have endlessly made food for the past couple days to do all this. It feels great," said volunteer Carolle Hamilton.
Fall is the start of the busy time at The Gathering Place as the weather continues starts to get cold and continues until the Christmas season.
The clients said they are thankful for the volunteers and the food in their tummies.
"Especially when you're alone, it's good," said diner Brenda Lang.
