Kekuli Cafe brings Christmas tradition from Merritt to Kamloops

“Mom raised us to lend a helping hand when we need it most,” Elijah Mack, Kekuli Cafe owner says. “Christmas time is such a challenging time of year and there is this demand for who has the most presents, or the most expensive thing under the tree. And for us it’s more than that, and you know me, its about giving back to the community. During our toughest times in life the community has stepped up and supported us and this is kind of our way of saying thank you.”

Over the years in Merritt, Mack believes he’s served up nearly 6,000 plates, while also donating thousands of dollars to local causes. Mack says it’s the day of the year that his family and staff all look forward to.

The tradition was born as his family wasn’t able to be together on Christmas day so they welcomed the community in.

“My dad had to work (Christmas) he leaves at 6:30 in the morning, so we got up at 5:00 a.m. as a family and said, ‘let’s open up gifts and do Christmas,’ otherwise we are waiting until 10:00 p.m. at night when he gets home,” Mack says. “And we finished by 6:00 a.m. and the family is just sitting around not doing anything all day. So I was like, ‘mom, we should fire up the grill and serve the community.’ I can imagine we are not the only ones in this situation. And also recognizing that we didn’t have everything growing up or much at all, so lets just go feed people, let’s just welcome people in on Christmas day and here we are.”

In addition to the breakfast in Kamloops, the Merritt location will be open all day offering the pancake breakfast and a Christmas dinner as well.

by Michael Reeve

Kekuli Cafe brings Christmas tradition from Merritt to Kamloops

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