SUDBURY -- Officials with the Samaritan Centre say a safe space for clients to eat while still physically distancing themselves from others is vital at this time.
"If we hand out bagged meals and clients are eating them outside, they're going to run into health care issues. Our clients have a number if chronic health care issues to begin with so eating outside is not a healthy option. You and I would eat outside when it's minus five, I don't like eating outside when it's plus five so it's a human right I think," said Lisa Long, Executive Director of the Samaritan Centre.
Long says clients will pick up their lunch or dinner and have the option of making their way down to tables set up on the arena floor to enjoy their meals.
"There are 42 individual tables, so one client per those six-foot folding tables. There is room for more. And so they can go down, have their meal, sit, they have access to the washrooms there as well," said Long.
Officials with the Blue Door Soup Kitchen prepare the lunches for clients on a daily basis, only now all servings will be placed in individual bags instead of on plates.
"We couldn't serve the meals here any longer, the quarters are way too cramped, it just wasn't physically possible," said Marc Leduc, President of the Blue Door Soup Kitchen.
Leduc says staff are not accepting any food donations directly at the centre for the time being, but he does have a list of things that are needed.
"We're still looking for things such as water bottles, drinking boxes, granola bars, anything that goes good that we can easily put in a takeout lunch. If anyone has those products and would like to donate them. They could call the Samaritan Centre, Blue Door Soup Kitchen or the Elgin Street Mission, whichever one they will gladly make arrangements to have those donations received," said Leduc.
Organizers say this will be the new setting for clients of the Samaritan Centre for at least the next 30 days.
Correction:
Fixed a misquote from Mark Leduc.
