Ottawa Mission looking to score more turkey donations for this year’s annual Thanksgiving dinner

With Thanksgiving less than a month away, the Ottawa Mission is gearing up to serve nearly 2,500 meals by preparing for their annual Thanksgiving dinner.

With many COVID restrictions still in place, the meals will be served from Mission's loading dock instead of traditional inside dining.

Peter Tilley, CEO of the Mission, tells CityNews Ottawa that despite the many challenges, he's hopeful that the Mission will receive about 4,000 lbs. of turkey this year.

“Generally at this time of year, it's one of the biggest turkey drives that we do,” Tilley explained. “Hopefully the community will respond as they always do.”

Though the Mission hasn't seen many COVID cases through the pandemic, the Mission'sdoors remain closed. However, Tilley is optimistic that the Mission could open by this October.

“Let's have a nice Christmas dinner under our roof — that would just be ideal,” Tilley said. “With all this community coming in through our doors, [let's] have a good sit down dinner […] and not [have] them come through our loading dock.”

Last Thanksgiving, the Mission served nearly 5,700 meals for those in need.

This year's annual dinner will take place on October 11.

The shelter also plans to serve Thanksgiving meals through their food truck programs from October 4 to 11.