Friendship Inn seeking more volunteers to begin the new year

With the busy Christmas season in the past, the Friendship Inn in Saskatoon now looks to new challenges that the new year brings.

The organization is known for serving both breakfast and lunch for all days of the year, but there’s much more that goes into serving the community other than a warm plate of food.

Executive director Sandra Kary said frigid temperatures during the winter always bring in more people looking for a place to stay warm.

“We are able to offer a warm-up area. We don’t leave anyone outside our doors if we’re in the building,” Kary confirmed.

“If someone needs to come in and just warm up, we have a coffee and hot chocolate station. Then when the meals are served, they are offered the meal as well.”

As more people come in for meals and warmth, there is a higher demand for volunteers to help run things smoothly.

“We need 10 or more people every day to come in and help us do food (preparation), to help with the service of the free meals (and) to help in the takeaway line,” she said.

“There’s lots of hands that are needed to make sure we get everything done on any given day.”

The pandemic has added different obstacles for the organization to deal with. At times, Kary said it can feel overwhelming with the lack of volunteers.

“I think, in many ways, (we’ve) felt overwhelmed. There’s been so many changes and so many ways we’ve had to navigate how we do our free meal service,” she added.

“But we’ve managed, and I think we have a really strong team and a really good supporting community.”