40 Hot Meal initiative takes off

By COLLIN GALLANT on December 12, 2020.

cgallant@medicinehatnews.com@CollinGallant

A local effort to link donors with restaurants to provide meals to food bank clients is already beating expectations just two days after launching.

The 40 Hot Meal initiative is the creation of Torrey Mattson and his wife, Sarah McKenzie, who came up with the idea Tuesday night just after the province announced a new ban on dine-in service at restaurants.

As of Friday morning, $19,000 had been pledged by companies and individual corporate sponsors, with Mattson saying further sponsorship can push the program well into January.

“I know this community pulls together, so I’m not surprised, but I am overwhelmed and a bit emotional,” said Mattson, who has spent several days fielding calls from local business, and lining them with participating restaurants.

Along with bolstering sales for local eateries, that will lose holiday party revenue, “it’s an extra meal, which is nice at Christmas,” he said.

Restaurants will provide packaged meals to the Medicine Hat and District Food Bank, which will distribute them in hampers that go out daily.

Food bank executive director Celina Symmonds said they can pass out up to 160 meals per day, including multiple meals to families.

It adds something special during the Holiday Season, she said, for people who don’t have the means to eat out.

As well as helping those who access the food bank, she said, the effort helps restaurants as well.

“We are always asking businesses to support us, and this is a way to support them and help (clients),” she told the News.

The first delivery will go out the door at the food bank in hampers and will consist of portions of ham prepared by Rossco’s Pub, which split up 18 large hams into 240 servings.

That will include enough for leftovers, added Symmonds, which can stretch into other meals.

So far sponsorships range from the minimum amount of $250 to about $1,000, said Mattson. An array of restaurants are each offering their own meal packages at different prices.

The minimum cost per meal is $6, meaning the minimum donation provides about 40 meals, though heartier meals are more.

Mattson, a local realtor, has received some support from the real estate community for the effort, but said a wide array of business owners are pledging money.

One is Heather Koch, the owner of Sofas and More, who took a staff vote this year about holding their usual holiday night out at a restaurant. They instead voted to donate the annual $600 budget to a charity.

“We wanted to support those who can really use it,” she said. “And it’s a way to help restaurants when that industry is hit so hard. We’re fortunate. Our doors are still open in this latest round, but their’s are closed.”

More information on how to participate in sponsorship and providing meals is available on the 40 Hot Meals Facebook Page.

Symmonds reminds clients that the food bank will be closed from Dec. 25 until Jan. 4, and that clients should make arrangement to pick up hampers before that period.

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