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Toronto's needy not forgotten at Christmas
December 25, 2011

The tables are set under the watchful eye of the Scott Mission’s Christmas mascot, a benevolent scarecrow made from the body of a roasted chicken, with a melon for a head and celery for limbs.

 

Christmas centrepieces leave smudges of glitter on the volunteers’ hands as they bustle around for the finishing touches, placing red flan desserts at every seat.

 

Finally, as hymns waft in from the hall next door, the needy men and women for whom this meal was prepared file into the dining room.

 

One of them is gentle giant Granville Graham, 41, laughing as he tucks into the gravy-covered turkey.

 

This is his first Christmas at the men’s shelter on Spadina Ave. The year has been difficult, Graham says. He’s had a hard time finding work and is separated from family and friends.

 

“It’s a large city, and it’s hard to build and maintain relationships,” he says.

 

That’s part of what drew him to the Scott Mission, where he comes once or twice a week for Bible study and a hot meal.

 

For David Zackens, 73, the focus is the food. “It’s good,” he says, as good as it was the first time he came for Christmas dinner here 30 years ago.

 

The meal is a constant in his life, much as it is for many of the volunteers who spend their morning making and serving the meal.

 

“It’s a reunion of old faces,” says Elaine Rennie, as she hands out Christmas cards, one of the tasks she’s done for nearly 30 years.

 

Until three years ago, this was a holiday tradition she shared with her husband, Norm, who passed away of cancer.

 

“He used to say, he was the worker, and I was the general,” Rennie said. “Whenever I see something that needs doing, I do it.”

 

Her face and hands are covered in glitter from the candles on the tables. It’s practice for being an angel, she jokes, checking her back for wings.

 

Rennie’s warm laugh is infectious, adding to what another volunteer, Ephraim Hylton, calls the spirit of the mission.

 

Volunteers “give a little bit extra consideration for people who are in need at this moment of their lives,” he says.

 

“The whole idea of giving back, I feel humbled by it.”

 

The Scott Mission served about 250 people in two sittings on Christmas Day.

 

Elsewhere, in another generous festive tradition, some 200 Salvation Army volunteers and staff served about 1,000 meals at the Bloor Central Church.

 

And hundreds of pizzas and juice boxes were delivered to shelters and to people living on the street by Humanity First, a non-profit organization supported by the Ahmadiyya community, a small Muslim sect with thousands of followers in Canada.

 

On Boxing Day, the Good Shepherd Church gives men and women a second chance at Christmas dinner, with a roast beef meal for 1,400 people, as well as a gift for each one.

 

The Scott Mission Christmas meal dates back 70 years. Long-time donors Badra and Shirley Rangalla came down Sunday to experience it personally for the first time.

 

The couple does not exchange gifts, but donate to charity instead.

 

“We are so blessed and there are people without a roof over their heads,” said Badra.

 

The two were swiftly co-opted into the well-oiled volunteer machine that has been operating since October.

 

This time of year can be lonely for many of the men here, said Scott Mission’s CEO Peter Duraisami. They watch as the city decks itself out in fairy lights, and poinsettias, leaving the streets empty as families gather.

 

“This is our family, this is our home for them,” said Duraisami. “It’s where they can come and have a wonderful meal . . . we give each one a gift.”