North Bay soup kitchen continues to struggle after funding request denied

A soup kitchen in North Bay, Ont., is down to serving one meal per day after making recent cuts in staff and services due to money issues. And it comes as the District of Nipissing Social Services Administration Board (DNSSAB) rejected a request for $140,000 in funding.

At a board meeting on Sept. 25, the DNSSAB said it didn't receive the required financial documents from the Gathering Place on time.

That led to almost all board members denying the soup kitchen's funding request.

Peter Gregory, the Gathering Place's director, told CBC News they've had to adjust their approach to feeding people in the community with less funding coming in.

"What we're doing here is cutting our costs," he said.

"Cutting overhead, which we've done. We're only serving one meal a day now, five days a week."

Gregory added that the soup kitchen is now down to three part-time and three full-time employees, relying more on volunteers to serve meals throughout the week.

"There's a lot of people in the city that can't afford to give us money," he said.

"So what they're doing is they're coming out and giving them, giving us their time. They're volunteering to help in the kitchen and serving the clientele."

Gregory said the DNSSAB has considered offering the Gathering Place a loan, as opposed to a grant, but he doesn't want to add to any existing debt.

"We wanted free money," he said.