St. Catharines RRT Serves a Meal at the Community Care Centre on September 20, 2017
On Wednesday morning, September 20th, ten volunteers arrived at Community Care’s Centre in St. Catharines at 12 North Street to set up the RRT mobile kitchen, the barbecues, tents, tables, drink tubs, and food!!
Hats off to the 24/7 year-round commitment of the good folks who run Community Care of St. Catharines & Thorold. This organization’s vision is “a healthy, caring community where everyone lives with dignity and purpose”. For just a couple years shy of a century Community Care has been hard at work in the Niagara area fulfilling this vision, having started in 1919 with an initial focus on food and clothing assistance. They now have grown to 19 separate programs – all in support of the less fortunate. The good work done by these folks can’t be overstated. Their Food Bank operation alone distributes 4000 pounds of food per day, benefiting approximately 1850 households per month!
Needless to say, The Rapid Relief Team’s local St. Catharines team was very happy to be given an opportunity to support such a cause in recognition of Hunger Awareness Week.
After a couple hours of hard work preparing on an unseasonably hot day, the lines of Community Care clients were forming up and we began to serve at noon. On the menu was a 1/4 lb. beef hamburger with tomatoes, lettuce, and condiments, plus chips and cold bottled water. Community Care event organizers thought we should be prepared for about 150 clients. So, to be safe, RRT procured enough food for 300 meals. An hour and a half later, 300 meals had disappeared.
The work never stopped, the line never slowed, and on the faces of those serving and those being served the smiles never faded. For a few hours at least, the awareness of hunger became a little less acute for a number of St. Catharines’ less fortunate. RRT was honored to play a small part in this effort of showing God’s heart to mankind and appreciative of those who are doing this kind of work every day.
