A North Bay soup kitchen is scaling back services due to financial pressures | CBC News

The long-running North Bay soup kitchen, the Gathering Place, is facing financial challenges, forcing it to scale back some of its services.

Dennis Chippa, executive director of the not-for-profit organization aimed at addressing food insecurity issues, describes this situation as “the perfect storm”.

“Like every household, every business, it’s just an increase in costs, and everything went up.”

This organization relies on charitable donations. 

However, Chippa said he has seen a dip in donations, particularly during the past holiday season, suggesting people are tightening their spending amid economic uncertainties.

“The economy turning around the way that it did has devastated a number of people and we see the impact of that,” Chippa states. 

Chippa said he has observed more single parent families and seniors coming to the Gathering Place, as well as an increase in both international and domestic students.

“We’ve started to recognize that in some cases we have people who used to be donors that are now diners,” he said. 

Serving over a hundred meals a day, the soup kitchen has had to end ‘sit-down meals’ in the evenings, offering only the ‘to-go’ meals option. 

It has also paused its outreach program which sent meals out to people who could not come in to the soup kitchen. 

“It’s too expensive and we aren’t getting any kind of financial support to keep it running. So it will be done in a very small limited basis if we do it at all.”

The Gathering Place will get $50,000 in funding from the local Social Services Board in May, and a recent ‘Coldest Night of the Year’ charity walk helped to raise about $40,000.

But Chippa says beyond the summer, he’s not sure the doors can stay open. 

He plans to approach large companies, agencies and unions in the coming months. 

Chippa is concerned about impact the potential closure of the venue will have to the community.

“We’re talking about 140 meals on a Tuesday night. Those 140 individuals won’t be getting a meal from us and that is pretty scary stuff,” he emphasized, adding that if people are not fed, they may find it difficult to cope.  

He added that there aren’t many places for marginalized people to go in this community, where they feel safe to come in. 

“Having a place like ours closed, leads them to have fewer places.”