Ottawa business leaders spent the morning making sandwiches and serving beef stew at the Shepherds of Good Hope soup kitchen on King Edward Avenue as the organization prepares to wrap up the first iteration of a successful holiday campaign.
The 12 Days of Hope campaign started in early December, originally consisting of a dozen teams from businesses such as the Canadian Real Estate Association, Microsoft, Scotiabank and the board of directors of the Shepherds of Good Hope Foundation.
Foundation CEO David Gourlay said the campaign received such an outpouring of support it ended up expanding.
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“We actually had so much demand we had to turn it into a Baker’s Dozen Days because we have 13 groups,” Gourlay told OBJ on Tuesday. “Telus is joining us on Thursday.”
Ottawa’s business community has always been generous with its financial support for charitable organizations, especially around the holidays, he said. But for many of the volunteers who participated in the event this month, it was their first time seeing what it’s like on the frontlines.
“We wanted that opportunity to give them a really good sense of where their philanthropy is going and what it’s doing,” Gourlay explained. “When you donate, we’re putting your donation and your investment into purchasing food. We’re making the food in this very kitchen we’re standing in right now and we’re serving it. It gives the business community that sense of ‘Oh, this is exactly what my money is going towards.’”
Donning Santa hats and customized aprons for the occasion, a group of prominent business leaders banded together as “Team Ottawa” on Tuesday to help serve lunch to a line of people waiting for a warm meal.
Shawn Hamilton, a principal at Proveras Commercial Realty, led the charge to get the group together.
“I was talking with David Gourlay and he ran the idea past me, and it just resonated with me – this idea that we live in a lucky world, most of us, and we don’t understand and don’t get exposed to this world of chronic homelessness,” he said.
“I just felt it was really important for us, and by us (I mean) my friends who are business leaders representing pillars of the community. I think it’s really important for us to step up and band together to show that we as a city need to care and do our part.”
Earlier in the day, he and the team were hard at work, competing to see who had the best strategy for constructing and wrapping peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. They ended up filling a half-dozen milk crates between them.
At the serving station, Hamilton was put in charge of handing out mugs, cutlery and seasonings, as well as sugar packets – a max of five per guest.
Next to him, Michael Crockatt, president and CEO of Ottawa Tourism, handed out dinner rolls.
“All of us who are so fortunate in our lives have the responsibility to help, and everybody needs some help,” said Crockatt. “It’s incumbent on us to do what we can so everybody has the food they need on a daily basis.”
Mayor Mark Sutcliffe also stopped by partway through the morning to serve salad.
At the other end of the station, Kevin McHale, executive director of the Sparks Street BIA, was on dish duty. Meanwhile, Sueling Ching, president and CEO of the Ottawa Board of Trade, and Sonya Shorey, president and CEO of Invest Ottawa, dished up rice, stew and vegetables.
Shorey said her organization has worked with Shepherds many times over the years, but this was her first time stopping by and helping out in the soup kitchen.
“It’s been an amazing experience,” she said. “I believe a strong community is one built on kindness and love and when all businesses work together to support every part of our community, we are stronger as Team Ottawa. We have a responsibility to contribute, to support, and to help every single person from every walk of life.”
According to new data from the city, the number of people experiencing homelessness has risen to nearly 3,000 people, a sharp increase from the last survey conducted in 2021. At the same time, a toxic drug supply has led to an increase in overdose deaths in recent years.
Many businesses, especially downtown and in the kitchen’s neighbouring areas of ByWard Market and Rideau Street, have raised concerns about safety and crime as these issues worsen.
Ching, who is at the forefront of Ottawa’s downtown revitalization efforts, said she’ll bring the experiences of the day with her as she works on addressing those concerns.
“We certainly had an understanding and appreciation of what is happening in our community, which is why we made safety and security for all a pillar of the action agenda,” she said. “Having said that, I think it’s really important for all of us to be firsthand witnesses to what’s happening so that we have a deeper appreciation for what needs to be done.”
With the success of the campaign, Gourlay said Shepherds plans to bring it back next Christmas, and may also introduce variations throughout the year for other holidays.
Hamilton said he intends to be back.
“It’s the scale, the humanity of things,” he said. “When you are serving somebody a meal, you are interacting with them personally and reflecting. These are human beings who started out life all on the same page.
“The scale of it – and we were told this wasn’t even a busy day. It’s really distilling it down to the individual level. I would counsel everybody, it should be mandatory community service that people do this once. For me, it was that impactful.”
