Free turkey dinner in Summerside builds employment skills and community
CBC
On a recent mid-December day, there was a lineup at the Waterfront Cafe & Training Centre in Summerside. But at the end of it, nobody was paying for the turkey dinner.
It was part of a free meal project put on by the cafe.
The cafe itself is a social enterprise, operated by Connection 2 Employment P.E.I. Executive director Barb Broome said many of its usual clients were working in the kitchen or serving up food for the free meal.
"We want them to take pride in themselves, and many people come to us and they think, 'Well, I don't have any skills,'" Broome told CBC News. "But you do. You're just not realizing the transferable skills that you have."
Connection 2 Employment operates in Bloomfield and Charlottetown as well as Summerside, teaching skills ranging from time management to budgeting to working in teams. Then it helps connect clients with prospective employers.
But the turkey dinner was a chance for some of the 150 annual clients to sit back and enjoy while meeting their neighbours in the process.
"In my opinion, food tastes good when it's free," says Bob Craig from Summerside, who found out about the event from a friend.
Other folks at the dinner might not have been able to taste turkey with all the fixings this year if it weren't for this opportunity.
"I'm poor, and the rest of us are poor," said Darrell Gallant, who was eating at a window table with his friends. "I don't make a lot of money, but I make enough money that we at least have a place. We're not like out in the streets; like, a lot of other people are homeless."
Gallant says he's grateful to the cafe for putting on the event.
"A lot of people are alone in life, and they don't have family around," he said. "For them to do this, they get to communicate with the people, and they're very, very kind."
Summerside's Mayor Dan Kutcher was also at the event, volunteering his time to serve meals and beverages to guests.
"It's just so reflective of what happens this time of year — and really, what happens in Summerside all the time, where people are looking out for each other and supporting each other and it brings the community together," Kutcher said.
"You want people from all different backgrounds and experiences to do things together and that's what I think makes a healthy, vibrant community."
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