‘It means love:’ Souls Harbour holds annual Easter meal

The smell of baked ham and scalloped potatoes filled Regina’s Souls Harbour Rescue Mission on Good Friday as the non-profit held its annual Easter feast.

According to Deana Struble, Souls Harbour’s marketing manager, volunteers prepared hundreds of pounds of donated food for roughly 500 people in need.

“There are people in our community who can’t afford a meal like this or don’t have the space to hold a meal for their family, so this meal brings people together,” she explained, adding it’s a highlight for both volunteers and those who attend.

“Our volunteers love it. They come every year and they build relationships with people who come for meals. It’s just really fantastic.”

Struble says the free feast symbolizes a sense of community for the city’s most vulnerable.

“It means support and it means love for them — just feeling that sense that people care,” she said. “There are hugs, there are people meeting up that haven’t seen each other in a while and it’s just lovely to see.”

Though Souls Harbour has held an Easter meal for years, this time it’s different because it’s in the non-profit’s new building. That means volunteers no longer have to cook the food at home and transport it; they can prepare it all in-house.