Our Place is opening its doors to The Soup Kitchen.
When The Soup Kitchen – also known as the long-running 9-10 Club – located in the basement of St. Andrew’s Cathedral found itself without a home, as the cathedral is undergoing renovations, its volunteer board struggled to find a new location to continue its meal service.
But finding a temporary home in downtown Victoria proved much more difficult than anticipated.
Enter Our Place, which offered up some space in its dining room.
“Our Place came to our rescue,” said Richard Marshall, chair of the soup kitchen’s board of directors.
“The (Our Place) offered us free use of the dining hall – and the reception from staff has been so wonderful. Our volunteers are amazed at all the services Our Place offers to the homeless and impoverished in our community.”
The 9-10 Club has been running a daily soup kitchen out of the St. Andrew’s Cathedral for 31 years, and plans to return by the end of the year when renovations are complete.
The Soup Kitchen operates from 8:30 to 10, Monday to Friday, at Our Place, 919 Pandora Ave.
“We understand the value of fellowship over a good meal,” said Don Evans, executive director of Our Place. “And anything that benefits the most vulnerable citizens of our community has our support. With a little bit of shuffling, we were happy to help The Soup Kitchen and its guests find a home at Our Place.”
Our Place is an inner-city community centre serving Greater Victoria’s most vulnerable: working poor, impoverished elderly, mental and physically challenged, and the homeless.