Monday, October 13 is Thanksgiving, a time to reflect with loved ones, share gratitude, and enjoy a meal together. But while many of us gather around full tables with family and friends, it’s important to remember that not everyone has a safe place, or the means to enjoy a holiday meal.
Thankfully, Edmonton is home to incredible organizations, churches, and volunteers who open their doors and hearts each year, offering free or low-cost Thanksgiving meals to those who need them most. Below is a curated list of where people can find a holiday meal, and where community members can donate or volunteer if they’d like to give back.
The Edmonton Food Bank supports and provides food to the many agencies providing meals. Support the entire community by donating food, your time and/or consider participating in EPCOR’s Thanksgiving $25,000 Matching Campaign. Donate here to help fill hampers and feed families.
This Thanksgiving, let’s give thanks by helping our vulnerable community members.
LAND ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
We recognize we are gathered, in collaboration and with joint purpose, on Treaty 6 territory. This territory is the traditional home and gathering place for diverse Indigenous Peoples. The nêhiyaw (Cree), Niitsitapi (Blackfoot), Dene, Haudenosaunee (Iroquois), Anishinaabe (Saulteaux/Ojibwe), Nakota Isga (Nakota Sioux), Inuit, and Métis, among many others cared for this land since time immemorial and continue to steward it today. As visitors in this territory, we honour the importance of the Treaty and our responsibility to these communities. Only in partnership can we create the changes necessary to end homelessness. It is vital we meaningfully engage and partner with Indigenous People and communities in this work while recognizing and addressing the conditions brought forth by colonialism. Displacement from traditional homelands, systemic racism, residential schools, the Sixties Scoop, and the ongoing overrepresentation of Indigenous People in child welfare, correctional systems, and homelessness are responsibilities we all share.