Pub owner, chefs come together to donate Christmas dinners to local food bank
By Justin Seward - Alberta Newspaper Group on December 18, 2019.
It was a plan that came together in the last few months, and thanks to Ross Beach and his chefs at Rossco’s Pub, 200 frozen individual turkey breast dinners were made and delivered to the Medicine Hat and District Food Bank on Dec. 15 to feed families and individuals who may be without a Christmas dinner this year. “I’ve been a part of the Brown Bag Lunch Program. Every September we help to feed the kids in the surrounding schools lunches,” said Beach. ” I decided after meeting with her (food bank executive director Celina Symmonds), her idea was it’s a hard time to feed individuals at Christmas time because a lot of people don’t have anywhere to go and they don’t want to go to a hall of people. I came up with the idea of individual turkey dinners with all the fixings and some can at least have a Christmas Eve dinner or Christmas Day dinner.” Beach says he then went back to his chefs telling them he wanted to do the meals and they volunteered their time. “I’ve been in business for 27 years and I got to thank the community for allowing me to be in business,” said Beach on giving back. “I like the idea of how small businesses can make a big impact on the community, and individuals and families that just don’t get the opportunity that most of us take for granted. Christmas is very important to me and I believe if I can share or bring a light on others that are having a tough time and just can’t do it, then this is just my Christmas gift to those.” Beach plans on continuing this initiative every year at Christmas. The food bank had a lineup all last week for the frozen dinners as the meal was being served until Friday. “I think the fact that Ross kind of looked at what the actual need was and then found a way to meet the need, I think is just so touching,” said Symmonds. “I think when you look at people that donate either money or time, it’s because they have a passion for it because they believe in the causes and that means a lot to everyone that works here.” Symmonds added that Beach is always thinking about the food bank, whether it’s with having donation bins out at the pub, or his passion for the Brown Bag Lunch Program. 12-11
