Volunteers prepare to help those in need for Christmas

While people gather with loved ones for the holidays, volunteers continue to help those in need.

Holiday hours for numerous community organizations include:

Regina’s Marian Centre is open on Dec. 25 and will serve a hot Christmas meal.

Carmichael Outreach is open until Dec. 24 and closed until Dec. 30.

Souls Harbour Rescue Mission is closed on Dec. 25. It will not provide shelter/food services on this day, this will resume on Dec. 26. It is also closed on Jan. 1.

Its hours are 9 a.m – 5 p.m. and the meal program runs from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m.

During the month of December it provided different sponsoured Christmas meals like traditional Ukrainian, ham and turkey meals.

Nēwo-Yōtina Friendship Centre will be out in the community on Dec. 23, operating for a half day on Dec. 25 and closed from Dec. 25-27. On Jan. 1 it closes at 1:45 p.m.

Salvation Army is open on Dec. 24 until noon and closed for the rest of the week. It is open on Dec. 30 and 31 from 9 a.m. to noon and closed on Jan. 1.

It is providing a church service on Dec. 24 at 7 p.m.

Mobile Crisis is open 24/7 and will be open on Christmas day.

Marian Centre hosting Christmas meal

Volunteers at the Marian Centre are spending part of their Christmas helping others.

The Marian Centre, located at 1835 Halifax Street, will serve a Christmas meal from 12 p.m. to 2 p.m.

Kate O’Donnell, a member of the Madonna House Apostolate, said anyone and everyone is welcome.

“I don’t think there’s anything else open on Christmas for people that would come to us, so that’s why we do it,” she said.

The centre opened in 1966, following Archbishop Michael O’Neill’s invitation that Madonna House Apostolate come to Regina to serve people in need.

O’Donnell said the centre is expecting anywhere from 250-300 people.

“We’ve been planning for a couple months now,” she explained. “We’re serving a roast beef on a bun with coleslaw and corn and other things.”

The Christmas dinner relies on around 10-20 volunteers for everything to run smoothly.

“We depend upon all our wonderful volunteers,” O’Donnell said.

“We get things done ahead of time, and then they come here, and Christmas morning is we’re setting it up, getting things hot and ready.”

The Marian Centre serves the community of Regina with the help of volunteers (Marian Centre Regina/Madonna House Apostolate website)

The dining room can be found on the main floor. It also serves as a rec room for reading, playing cards and socializing.

She said the Christmas volunteers have been helping for years, sacrificing their holiday time to help others.

Some volunteers even provide entertainment in the form of music.

“We have a group that will come and sing during the Christmas Day, we have a piano, so they’ll come and sing,” she said.

Following the Christmas meal, the centre will be closed until January 6.

The centre provides noon meals to adults and children on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays.

It is also open on Tuesday’s for a drop-in where it assists men with clothing requests.