Sask. shelters, charities provide hundreds of pounds of food for Thanksgiving meals this weekend

Saskatoon's Friendship Inn served out nearly 2,000 meals in its largest Thanksgiving Day dinner Monday afternoon while others like it did the same this weekend. 

Laura Herman, development & engagement manager at the Friendship Inn, said the kitchen team prepared food for as many as 1,700 plates Monday afternoon — but blew past their estimate, reaching about 1,963 meals.

That included preparing more than 50 turkeys, alongside hundreds of pounds in bread, stuffing, potatoes and vegetables.

"When we look back at some of the numbers from previous years, Thanksgiving is typically one of the larger meals that we serve," Herman said, noting there were about 1,200 to 1,300 meals served last year.

She said this year they prepared for more mouths after checking the amount of meals served at the Friendship Inn in August and September which were "two of the busiest months we've had on record."

"Those trends have continued through the month of October," Herman told Leisha Grebinski, host of CBC's Saskatoon Morning.

Herman expects the increased number of people visiting the Friendship Inn is because of the increased cost of living.

"It's what we all see when we go to the grocery store or go to fill up our cars with gas: things are just more expensive than they were," she said, adding it can make it difficult for people on a fixed income.

Despite the increased number of meals required, Herman said they stuck to their mantra to never turn people away.

"If we run out of turkey, we'll turn to ham; there's always a backup plan," Herman said early Monday morning before the dinner. Later, she said that's what they did.

"We don't ever want to turn anyone away and see anybody go hungry."

Herman said she depends on the community to keep the pantries and freezers stocked and appreciate the support from those who donate.

In North Battleford, the Miwasin Kikinaw homeless shelter, operated by the Battlefords Agency Tribal Chiefs, served about 60 meals on Friday afternoon as part of its Thanksgiving dinner. 

The shelter offers people a place to sleep and provides meals separately as well.