homeless

As families across Greater Moncton gather around the dinner table this Thanksgiving weekend, Harvest House Atlantic staff and volunteers prepared a holiday meal for hundreds of people who may have spent the holiday alone.

The organization hosted its annual Thanksgiving dinner on Saturday, welcoming guests from across the community for a traditional turkey meal complete with dessert and a welcoming atmosphere designed to feel a little more like home.

“We always get a large crowd,” said Harvest House Atlantic executive director Leon Baker. He expected they’d serve somewhere around 300 to 350 full turkey dinners with dessert.

While providing a hot meal remains at the heart of the event, Baker says the experience is about much more than food.

Unlike the organization’s regular meal service, where guests typically line up and are served through the kitchen, the Thanksgiving meal is designed to be more personal.

“We really want to make it special,” Baker said. “We sit people down, bring them to their seats and serve them where they are. We decorate a little bit and try to make it festive, make it feel more like home and make them feel extra special.”

Harvest House serves a diverse group of people throughout the year, including those experiencing homelessness, individuals struggling with poverty, people living with mental health or addiction challenges, and others simply looking for connection and community.

“We turn nobody away,” Baker said. “We see people on fixed incomes who need some support. We see people who are lonely and looking for community. We serve everybody.”

The importance of community becomes especially apparent during holidays such as Thanksgiving, he said.

“Community is so important,” Baker said. “People will come up afterwards and say, ‘This reminds me of when…’ and they share memories of their grandparents or when they were children.”

For many guests, those conversations and connections leave a lasting impact.

“The impact goes beyond a meal,” Baker said. “A meal opens up an opportunity for a conversation, and with that conversation we build relationships.”

Those relationships can often become the first step toward accessing other services offered by Harvest House, including emergency shelter, addiction recovery programs and housing support.

“We work alongside people and help bring them into restoration, whatever that means in their life,” Baker said.

The event also relies heavily on volunteers who are willing to spend part of their holiday weekend helping others.

“We’ve got board members coming in, we’ve got organizations coming in, and I’ll be there with my wife as well,” Baker said. “It’s a special time of year.”

He believes volunteering during Thanksgiving often serves as a reminder of how fortunate many people are.

“When you sit back and think about your own meal, and then you look at those people who don’t have that, it puts things into perspective,” he said. “It makes you approach your own life with a different lens of Thanksgiving.”

At the same time, Harvest House continues to face growing demand for its services.

Baker says meal numbers have risen sharply in recent years amid increasing housing costs and broader affordability challenges.

“We continue to see the need for services rise,” he said.

The organization now serves roughly 700 meals per day, totalling close to a quarter of a million meals annually. According to Baker, the cost of providing those meals has also increased significantly, averaging about $5.50 per meal.

Year-over-year demand has continued climbing as more people struggle to make ends meet.

“We are seeing the epidemic of homelessness and people impacted by poverty grow,” Baker said.

Those seeking assistance are not solely people without jobs or housing, he added.

“Poverty goes beyond somebody who doesn’t have a job,” Baker said. “We see more and more people who are working, but their means no longer pay for everything.”

With housing, utilities and groceries consuming larger portions of household budgets, some people are increasingly being forced to make difficult choices.

“Unfortunately, food has become a choice and not a necessity for some people,” he said. “People are forced to find that need somewhere else.”

Harvest House continues to seek financial support to help sustain its programs throughout the year, and he says donations are always welcome.

Community members who want to contribute can donate through the organization’s website or contact its office directly. Baker says donations help support not only holiday meals, but the hundreds of meals served every day and the wide range of programs offered through Harvest House.

As families celebrate Thanksgiving this weekend, Baker hopes residents will also take a moment to reflect on those who may be struggling.