TIMMINS -- For more than 30 years, the Lord's Kitchen Society has been serving hot, homemade meals with all the fixings for people in need or who are lonely in Timmins.

Those gatherings have religiously taken place every Thursday evening and people line up outside to wait for the doors of the kitchen at the former Nativity Church to open to dinners that not only nourish bodies but also souls.

"We serve over 200 people," said Dee Russell, president of the Lord's Kitchen Society Board of Directors.

And that's why she said it was so difficult to decide not to make those famed meals for at least the next two weeks, due to concerns over the potential spreading of the COVID-19 virus.

"Our staff is at a vulnerable stage in life that we would take precaution and close our meal for the 19th of March and the 26th. But we will revisit it and if things have improved or anything, we will open up," explained Russell.

However, the Lord's Kitchen breakfast will still be served on Friday mornings, as it's organized by a younger group of volunteers and they've decided to continue, but they will assess the situation week by week.

Officials at the Living Space shelter in Timmins know people will be affected by this decision and said they will do the best they can to help, but without public support, it will be difficult.

"Our food programs are unbudgeted. We don't receive any funding for them," said Jason Sereda, the shelter's executive director.

"It's based on donations that we're able to operate that. So we make sure that people who are staying here have access first and we don't provide food for every meal, every day of the week. So it's important that they're able to access all the other food programs," said Sereda.

In terms of how the Living Space is dealing with the virus, Sereda said the shelter already follows strict handwashing protocols.

"We make sure people are washing their hands and hand sanitizing before any meals that we hand out and we're going to be making sure that any visitors who come into the space they do the same," he said.

Sereda also suggested if people want to help, they can by dropping off food and especially hand sanitizer and toilet paper at the Living Space.

Project Love is another organization that feeds people in need in Timmins and officials say they will hand out meals in takeout containers instead of hosting sit-down meals on Sundays and Mondays.