KAMLOOPS — For many families Easter is a time to come together and enjoy a meal, but for some people in Kamloops there will be no family or warm house to come home to this year.
There will, however, be New Life Community Kamloops.
The social services organization cooks up an Easter feast for the homeless and hurting every year, ensuring no one goes hungry.
As many as 300 people are expected to pack the New Life Community dining hall for the meal on Monday afternoon.
“Easter and Thanksgiving seem to be bigger even than the Christmas one,” Executive Director Stan Dueck said, “maybe because there’s more people around town, it’s certainly a lot easier to get around, right? We’ll have a full house no question about it.”
Dueck says preparations for the big day are coming along nicely, and thanks to donations from the community and local businesses, there will be plenty of food for everyone in need.
“There’s going to be a lot of people here that are homeless, there are going to be a lot of people that have housing but it is the only big meal that they get to, those few big meals we put on annually, they will be here at every one,” Dueck said.
“They get to see friends that they maybe haven’t seen for a while, a lot of times they will be here with family members. We’ll see men, women, kids. They’re all welcome, and they’ll all get a good meal and they can all have that sit down family kind of dinner.”
Around 20 volunteers will prepare and serve the turkey dinner on Easter Monday.
The meal is an exciting event for New Life Community, but this year it is bitter-sweet.
Monday will be Dueck’s last holiday dinner as executive director with the organization.
“It’s been five and a half years that I’ve been here,” he said. “I have no regrets, lots of sleepless nights, but no regrets. It’s been one of the hardest jobs that I’ve ever had, and I think probably a week or so ago I came to the last board meeting and it really kind of sunk in that that was going to be the last one.”
Dueck’s replacement has yet to be named. While he is confident whoever it is will take New Life Community to another level, Dueck admits he’ll miss the faces of the people he’s come to care so much about.
“This place is always going to be near and dear to my heart. I just believe that there’s always a need to really be involved in your local community and with those people that need a hand to get their lives moving forward again.”
Monday’s Easter meal begins at 1 p.m. and continues until everyone in attendance has had their fill.
New Life Community Kamloops is in need of more donations heading into the spring and summer months. Donations can be made at www.newlifekamloops.ca.
