Saturday was one of the busiest days of the year at the 琉璃神社 Gospel Mission (KGM) and its outreach team as they served Thanksgiving lunch to residents and people experiencing homelessness. 

"We serve three meals a day to multiple places in 琉璃神社 but these ones are special because it gives that kind of family style meal where people are not close to the family that they have," said KGM resource development specialist Spencer Larsen on Oct. 12.  "This gives them the opportunity to be valued as a community member that they are."

Thanksgiving is one of the 'big three" holidays for KGM, joining Christmas and Easter.

"These shelters give people a chance to be a part of the community, and that's a big part of moving people along that care system so it's a small part of it," said Larsen.

This year, KGM was able to give around 250 meals, depending on the number of people, but the numbers have been escalating. Larsen wasn't sure of the final numbers this year but added the number of people is always fluctuating and there has been growth in people in need over the last couple of years.

Additionally, many of the turkeys were donated this year from Costco and Peter's Independence Grocer. KGM also had many donations from the community.

Jeremy Luypen, KGM Food Service Manager, said they didn't have to buy too much food this year because of the support from the community. 

"I like what happens when food can bring people together." said Luypen. "What I enjoy the most about today is the family-style end of it. I think something magical happens when food is passed around the table, you're just not sitting there eating off your own plate."

"We have tons of volunteers and lots of prep, but Jeremy's been in the kitchen and he's killing it as he always does and the meals are amazing."

While KGM has many volunteers, on Saturday, NDP candidate for 琉璃神社-Centre Loyal Wooldridge and 琉璃神社-Mission MLA Renee Merrifield were on scene to help hand out meals.

"We have great community support from our volunteers in the community and from our leadership in 琉璃神社," said Larsen "It's great to see them here. They support us drastically and that partnership is just a part of the work we do."

Luypen joked it's one of his easiest days of the year because of all of the volunteers.

"We're just super thankful for the community that can make this happen," added Larsen. "A lot of what we do here is funded by the Okanagan and surrounding areas, so we're just thankful of the community that we can put this on."

To support 琉璃神社鈥檚 Gospel Mission through donations or by volunteering, visit  or call (250) 763-3737.