Sault Ste Marie organization plans a free community Christmas dinner

Every Monday, an organization in Sault Ste. Marie, called Grocer 4 Good hosts a free community dinner with fresh homemade meals.

Lisa Vezeau-Allen, Grocer 4 Good's founder and a city councillor, said the Monday meals started through a program with Ontario Works in which people learned to cook and the leftovers would go to the community.

"That program unfortunately has ceased," she said.

"However, we maintained our Monday meals. Every Monday we have various volunteers as well as our staff supervisor, we create a meal that we give out to our community."

Ahead of Christmas, Vezeau-Allen said the organization is planning to serve 100 meals on Monday, Dec. 23.

"We're going to have roast ham, roast Turkey, mashed sweet potatoes and we're going to be doing a cranberry wild rice stuffing and green beans, and dessert," she said.

Vezeau-Allen says  her love of food and preparing meals and a sense of community comes from a childhood memory. 

"My maternal grandmother, every Saturday, would always  have a big pot on the stove, and she was very much about everyone coming to the table and sharing a meal. And that is a big part of what has motivated Monday meals."

Outside of its regular Monday dinners, Grocer 4 Good helps provide employment and work experience to those people in Sault Ste. Marie's downtown who face barriers, including food access.

Vezeau-Allen said she's had meetings with organizations in Sudbury and Barrie about the programs and offered things that people in those communities can learn from.

"Our overarching philosophy is that, you know, food brings us all together and we all have something meaningful to contribute," she said.