Christina Farquhar the Kitchen Coordinator for the Warm Welcome Program, mentions how the frigid temperatures over the holiday has effected the numbers of attendance. “Our numbers have dropped over the holiday’s, last week we were about 25 each night.” Which is about half the amount they normally have had in attendance.

“It was very cold though, so I think people were just staying home. We just keep going and we make the food and hopefully people are going to be coming. I know there are people out there that need it.”

Christina has been cooking up a variety of dishes to keep things new. “Last night they had chili and salad, pudding for dessert. “Last Tuesday we had a nice turkey dinner, we’ve had roast beef, and pulled pork. Last week the Rangers made breakfast for supper, so we had pancakes, scrambled eggs, sausage and bacon. We’ve had chicken and rice, and a variety of stuff.” Its great to have a variety of meals to get people coming back for more.

“We are running until the end of March at this point, we will go by demand as far as how long we run.”

Warm Welcome has many volunteers, but they are asking if you are free to lend a hand. Christina mentions, “I have a great group of volunteers and we have different groups come out for an evening. A random acts of kindness group came out one night, pathfinders came out a couple nights for serving and clean-up. Rangers came out last week to do the cooking, serving, and clean up one night. But I have a group of ladies coming out on a regular basis to help with preparation, serving and clean up as well.”

When asked if their are rewards to the Warm Welcome Program for the volunteers, Christina enthusiastically says, “Its awesome to be able to go out and help people. Its hard to describe, were giving back to the community but were getting so much out of it ourselves.”

The kitchen will be open on Tuesdays at the Salvation Army and on Thursdays at St. Paul’s United Church. If people want to catch a warm meal make sure to arrive between 5:30 p.m. and 7:00 p.m. If anyone is interested in donating money the Salvation Army and St. Paul’s Church can accept donations and provide a tax receipt.