Volunteer army rolls up sleeves for Friendship Inn Thanksgiving feast

For the past 50 years the Friendship Inn has been hosting a Thanksgiving meal for less fortunate people in Saskatoon.

What started as offering a few dozen meals to people soon grew to thousands as the needs of the community increased.

Matching that growth is the generosity of the volunteers that make the meal go off without a hitch each year.

Londa Pyne has been volunteering at the community centre the past five years and couldn’t think of any other place she’d spend her Thanksgiving.

“(Friendship Inn) really are dependent on their volunteers. This place couldn’t really run without them. It feels really good to be able to give back to the community. It’s good for the soul,” she said.

Spending so much time at the inn has allowed Pyne to form relationships with many of the people that stop in for lunch or breakfast. She said being jovial and approachable always helps lighten the mood.

“I get people laughing pretty good,” she said. “‘Humour is healing,’ I’m always telling people.”

More than 30 to 35 volunteers are working during the two-hour meal. One group works the food line to dish out portions, others deliver and clean plates off tables and a mass of people are in the kitchen preparing food for roughly 1,300 hungry people.

Shae Lee originally started volunteering at the inn to fulfill his community service hours. Once his required hours were completed he kept coming back because he enjoyed it.

“It feels fantastic, it really does because the people here are less fortunate than I am. The least I can do is help get food in their belly,” Lee said.

Lee said it’s those wholesome feelings that keeps him coming back.

“We don’t get paid to help here,” he said. “The smiles on people’s faces is worth everything.”

Pyne said the Friendship Inn is understaffed, underpaid and overworked, making the need for volunteers a never-ending battle.

“With human services, that’s generally the way it is,” she said.

With no family nearby this holiday, Pyne feels a Thanksgiving spent at the Friendship Inn helps grow her other family.

“This is kind of like my family in a way,” she said.