Good Shepherd prepared for Thanksgiving diners

Dozens of volunteers have been hard at work, some for weeks, in the kitchen of Good Shepherd Ministries for one of its busiest weekends of the year.

Whether peeling potatoes, chopping vegetables or simply lending a helping hand to staff, the entire team is well prepared for this year’s Thanksgiving dinner service and the annual welcoming of hundreds of people in need on the holiday Monday.

On Oct. 12 from noon to 2:30 p.m., Good Shepherd Ministries — a dual-provider of emergency shelter and daily community meals — will once again serve its full sit-down turkey meal with all the trimmings at the centre at 412 Queen St. E. in downtown Toronto. 

Advertisement

Last year, the organization provided 1,600 festive meals on Thanksgiving Monday, and this year, extra food is being prepared as demand is expected to rise. Roughly 150 large turkeys, 1,500 pounds of potatoes, 400 pounds of stuffing from scratch, 300 pounds of mixed vegetables, 130 pounds of cranberry sauce, 50 litres of gravy and a whole pallet of chocolate is being prepared for the welcoming meal. 

Adrienne Urquhart, Good Shepherd's director of fundraising and public relations, spoke about how this special yearly meal is about more than just food. 

“We usually operate cafeteria style, but because Thanksgiving is a day where a lot of people are celebrating with their families, for people who are isolated or don't have any family, it becomes a very difficult time for them,” Urquhart said. “For people with nowhere to go and no resources to prepare a meal, we’ve always wanted to make this extra special as its own sit-down meal.”

Even as Good Shepherd serves hot meals to those in need every day, Thanksgiving typically remains its largest meal service by a fair margin. And while it is good news that the festive meal offers remarkable hospitality alongside the bountiful feast, the growth seen in those attending continues to remind us of the reality of food insecurity in Toronto and Canada at large. 

The proof is in a University of Toronto research program that shows in 2025, 24 per cent of people in the country lived in a food-insecure household — 9.8 million people, 2.4 million of whom were children.

Advertisement

Reflecting on local statistics that show food insecurity having affected nearly one in four Toronto households just two years ago and food banks recording more than 4.1 million visits in 2025 alone, Urquhart provided a glimpse of what that sheer growth looks like in day-to-day operations. 

“In July we went from just having a 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. meal to expanding a morning drop-in from 9 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. This calendar year we've already provided about 334,000 meals, and if we continue on that same trajectory, we will probably serve close to 400,000 meals — last year, we only served around 374,000,” she said.

“We know that there is a huge affordability crisis that everybody's experiencing, but for those people who have even less, when things are so expensive, they can afford even less. We know that there are people who are struggling, who may be underhoused or are trying to make ends meet — they're often seniors, veterans or on disability,” she continued, sharing that while  people accessing support tend to be single adults, special meals like Thanksgiving sometimes bring in families as well. 

As a ministry of the Hospitaller Order of Saint John of God, a Catholic order founded in 1572, Good Shepherd roots in Catholic values, namely, hospitality, have kept the team committed to assisting the city’s growing concerns in many ways. For Urquhart and the 52 volunteers expected to help serve the Thanksgiving meal, simply meeting people where they are, opening doors without judgment and providing respectful service even on busy holidays like Thanksgiving is a key way to do so.

While the ordinary Catholic might not be able to provide hundreds of meals to those in need this Thanksgiving, volunteering time, monetary donations or even organizing or contributing to local parish food drives are tangible ways to make a difference. Even simpler, Urquhart attests, is merely offering more kindness in one's own neighbourhood and further understanding the realities faced by vulnerable people. 

As this holiday’s meal service reminds Good Shepherd and communities across the Greater Toronto Area and beyond, these are realities which will last far longer than Thanksgiving leftovers. 

Advertisement

“These needs don’t disappear after Thanksgiving. While it may draw attention to food insecurity and homelessness, affordability and access to nutritious food remain a challenge throughout the year,” she said. 

“This Thanksgiving, we can be with our family and think about all the blessings that we have, but also think about what we do to share those blessings to respect the inherent goodness in everybody.”