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“Everybody gets a chance to have dignity, and I think with the meal, today is where we serve dignity,” she said. “Everyone is from a family.”
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John Fraser echoed the same sentiments. For the Ottawa South MPP, being a politician means getting the opportunity to celebrate holidays with people whose voices “are hardest to hear.”
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“You might assume that everybody here is somebody who’s on the street, but they’re not,” he said. “Times are really hard for people and you see more people that are better clothed.”
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Margaret Davidson was busy serving meals as one of the more than 100 volunteers at the Mission on Sunday.
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Davidson wore white and yellow checkered bunny ears — just as she did for the past four Easters when she volunteered for the organization.
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Her inspiration is simply to “give something back to the community,” she said. “Seeing everyone here just enjoying themselves and seeing them happy.”
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Kyle Sitka, who came out for the first time to volunteer at the Mission, works at the Ottawa Paramedic Service as a community paramedic. He came after one of his colleagues, who has been volunteering for a long time, encouraged him.
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“It’s a nice way to be involved in the community from a different perspective,” Sitka said. “Everyone here is in really good spirits and everyone’s at their best, caring for each other.”
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Sitka was assigned table No. 9 and was responsible for bringing plates of food, giving him the chance to interact a bit with people.
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“When I look around and I see councillors and members of the police, and people from all different walks of life here to celebrate together and have a meal, it’s nice to see.”
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‘How much happier can I be?’
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Chef Watson said the Mission started serving meals at 11 a.m. and stayed open until 5 p.m.
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“The Mission is kind of a hub for people in need,” he said. “When everyone gets in the room, there’s one big family and it’s nice to see people just want to be here.
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“They want to be happy. They want to eat a good meal. Everyone just wants to enjoy.”
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Watson said the Mission’s food service training program, which trains homeless and precariously housed people to work in the food service industry, started in 2004 and operates to this day.
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“We started it to help people get off social services and back into the workforce,” he said. “The only requirement is a desire to want to change your life for the better.”
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Watson said the program has had a 90 per cent success rate, with over 400 graduates to date.
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For Lapensée, it was somewhat of a dream to meet Chef Watson. Lapensée said a woman who was sitting next to him during the meal looked up at Watson and said, “Can I have a hug?” And he obliged.
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Lapensée recalled saying, “Is that the real … Chef?”
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“I got to finally see him in person,” Lapensée said. “He’s as admirable as his reputation.”
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“And I tip my hat to him,” he said, as he leaned forward with his white cap off.
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The meal was an emotional one for Lapensée, who had just lost his mother two months ago. He tried to brush it off, but eventually accepted his happy tears. “Anyone that knows me knows I’m a sap.”
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“I’m thinking about my mom now,” he said. “How much happier can I be?”
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