PHOTO JOSIE DESMARAIS, THE PRESS
Dozens of men of all ages and backgrounds lined up on Sunday to have a Christmas meal at the Welcome Hall Mission cafeteria on Saint-Antoine Street West.
PHOTO JOSIE DESMARAIS, THE PRESS
The Mission serves an average of 1,250 meals per day at four Montreal sites, year-round.
PHOTO JOSIE DESMARAIS, THE PRESS
“We’re here 365 days a year, but when it’s the holiday season, we have themed meals for the next two weeks,” explains the Mission’s kitchen manager, Gabriel Faraone. “It’s treats for customers, desserts, traditional meals,” he continues.
PHOTO JOSIE DESMARAIS, THE PRESS
On the menu for Christmas this year at the Welcome Hall Mission: meatball stew or couscous with tofu, with several choices of desserts and sides.
PHOTO JOSIE DESMARAIS, THE PRESS
Fabienne Voisin, the new President and CEO of the Orchester Métropolitain, came to help serve meals as a volunteer on Sunday. “I arrived in Montreal a month ago, Montrealers have been extremely welcoming and I want to help people, especially on Christmas Day,” she said, saying she wanted to come back.
PHOTO JOSIE DESMARAIS, THE PRESS
The kitchen on rue Saint-Antoine Ouest, where the hundreds of thousands of meals served by the Mission Bon Accueil are prepared, employs a dozen people. Some 5,000 volunteers unite their efforts to help the Mission’s clientele each year, according to Gabriel Faraone.
PHOTO JOSIE DESMARAIS, THE PRESS
Volunteer Fabienne Voisin runs between two counters to serve the Mission’s customers, taking care to note everyone’s food preferences and restrictions, and repeating “Bon appétit!” and “Merry Christmas!” “. “We feel that we serve a little bit for something, that we can bring a little bit of light to the eyes of these people who seem lonely,” she says.