Pivoting Again!

Change…these days is a constant! The strength of our team is evident as we once again “pivot” to make sure the community is cared for.
This week has seen big changes for us at Royal City Mission. With most of our homeless population being relocated to local hotels, the Drop In Centre has closed to allow staff to be onsite at these temporary shelters.

To make up for the closure of the Drop In Centre, we have taken on serving “to-go” at the front door of the mission.  We have set up a Food Safety Plan approved by Public Health to make sure that we are meeting all conditions to keep staff, volunteers and community members safe.  If you are interested in seeing the plan, it's available here. The beauty of this move is that we are able to see many of the community members who were not able to pick up meals from the Drop In. It is so good to see them and check in - we have missed them!
Every day we see staff and volunteers from the Drop In as they prepare, package, and deliver  the 11 am meal. We are all getting along well, albeit from a distance.  We are now sending out approximately 240 meals a day (increasing weekly). 

God Provides...

A friend called to let us know that he had just butchered a cow, so our new freezer is totally full. Another freezer donated by a local teacher is also full. Food keeps coming in and we are thankful for the generosity of our community. There are many stories of this kind of provision and we try to keep social media updated so you can share in the wonder.

Live @ 11 on Sundays

It was great to hear from Anna MacQueen last Sunday on Facebook live! We really value having multiple voices share with us and look forward to having others participate. This week we return to the lectionary with a reading from the Gospel of Luke (24:13-34). Join us at 11 am on Facebook on the Royal City Mission page. 

Promoting Beauty

The stories of death and violence coming out of Nova Scotia this week have been devastating, but death and violence do not have the final word. Beauty persists. God's redemptive work continues. We're inviting you to celebrate the creative capacity that God has given you and use it to brighten the Royal City Mission community. Do you have a painting, a photo, a video, a poem or some other artistic expression you have created recently that you would be willing to share with us? We'd like to feature these over the next few weeks. There are two ways to get these to us - you can email your creation togavin@royalcitymission.ca or you can join our "Royal City Mission Family" Facebook Group and post your creation there.

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Other Ways to Help

​Please continue to pray for the community. Many people are struggling with loneliness, financial concerns and health issues. 
​The biggest current needs for ongoing support of the meals are:

• Refillable Water Bottles - while most homeless are at the hotels, a small number are not able to function in that setting and access to water is a problem. We would like to be able to fill these and give them to those who need them. 
• Masks- we are washing the sewn masks that have been donated but are having a hard time keeping up.
  
  

Lisa Laws is organizing all food and food deliveries - lisa@royalcitymission.ca Please contact her before dropping items off.

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