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Amazing news! The Iron Goat has reached out to Food and Friends and offered to continue providing free weekly meals to those in our community who are experiencing food insecurity.

Unfortunately, it will be a while before we can once again fill that hunger for personal connection at St. Michael’s Anglican Church, but for now we can fill some bellies.

The restaurant is observing all protocols as dictated by Alberta Health Services for avoiding the spread of the coronavirus. To enforce the need for social distancing and ensure AHS food safe protocols are met, Food and Friends meals will be delivered cold, in oven or microwaveable containers for reheating. Our delivery system will ensure there is significant distance between the deliverer and the recipient, that the containers and hands are sanitized, and that the meal is actually received by a person so it’s not left unattended for wildlife to find.

We are trying very hard to limit the community spread of this virus by limiting points of contact. If a single free meal a week can help someone stretch increasingly limited dollars or keep even one person from having to access a grocery store to interact with multiple people in the course of obtaining food, this will be a win. As soon as we are able to resume the St. Mike’s weekly dinners, we absolutely will do so. With huge celebration.

The first week’s meal will be mashed potatoes, meatloaf and vegetables, and delivery will be between 5:30 and 6 p.m. this coming Monday (March 30).

The first week will be able to accommodate a maximum of 150 meals and we will assess demand moving forward.

If you wish to receive a meal, please email Foodandfriends2020@gmail.com. We need your name, phone number, address and whether you are a single or a family and thus require more than one serving. We will also need specific instructions for access if it is not a simple knock on the door.

When Food and Friends first started in 2013 it was very much an unknown world into which we ventured and the need/desire was a moving target. We’re there again, but just adapting to a new and temporary reality. Our gratitude to the Iron Goat for stepping in and building us a temporary bridge is profound.