The Shepherds of Good Hope soup kitchen bustled with activity just before today when the Hoteliers made their annual visit to drop off the nearly twelve tons of food with an estimated value of $15,000.

Every Valentine’s Day for eleven years representatives from the Hoteliers come to the Shepherds of Good Hope soup kitchen to drop off this enormous amount of food and serve lunch to the many hungry men and women coming through their doors.

“We are so grateful to have this wonderful relationship with the Hoteliers in this city. They certainly care about the underprivileged and the homeless and it shows.” said Paul Soucie, Executive Director of Shepherds of Good Hope.

“I am very happy with the turnout of food and support this year. It was great that we could leverage our money with our generous suppliers to double the amount of food we could donate.” said Peter Wilson, one of the Hoteliers and the general manager of Holiday Inn and Suites.

For further information: contact Paul Soucie (613) 789-8210 # 235

Councillor Fleury

Shepherds of Good Hope is 29 years old today.  Councillor Fleury, together with Executive Directors Paul Soucie and Sheila Burnett helped with the celebration by serving lunch topped off with anniversary cake to the over 300 hungry people lined up at the soup kitchen at 233 Murray Street.  Councillor Fleury presented Shepherds of Good Hope with a certificate of appreciation from the City of Ottawa signed by Mayor Jim Watson and himself.

“Shepherds of Good Hope is an extremely helpful member of our community.  It has a great team of volunteers giving countless hours over the 29 years of service to our community.  Community members helping community members – thank you.” said Councillor Fleury.

Paul Soucie commented, “We are strengthened by the support we’ve received from our community. When we first opened in 1983, Shepherds served 23 meals and today we are serving approximately 700,000 meals every year. Today was a great day to celebrate our role in providing the necessities of life to the most vulnerable in our community.”

For further information: contact Paul Soucie (613) 789-8210 # 235

Councillor Fleury along with Sheila Burnett and Paul Soucie will serve lunch and cake in our soup kitchen at 11:30am.

“Who would have believed it,” remarked Sheila Burnett, one of the first volunteers 29 years ago and now Executive Director of Shepherds of Good Hope.

Shepherds of Good Hope opened its doors on February 7, 1983 in the basement of St. Brigid’s Church.  The first meal fed 23 people.  Today it serves a staggering 700,000 meals a year! 

Each day over 1500 people go through our doors including the 300 people who live in the supportive living programs.  In 2011, there were 54,016 male bed stays and 26,902 female bed stays.  From the basement of a Lowertown church to 7 buildings across the city, Shepherds of Good Hope has expanded to meet the needs of the ever growing homeless population.

Shepherds of Good Hope is so much more than a soup kitchen.  Over 21,000 families received groceries from the grocery program in 2011.  The Christmas Hamper program helped over 900 families with food for their Christmas Meal.  Local residents can find clean, warm clothing from its clothing program. Every night, the Evening Drop-in provides a safe, friendly environment where all are welcome.

As Sheila Burnett states, “I have been overwhelmed by the generosity of the community.  We could not have done any of this without them.”

For further information: contact Paul Soucie (613) 789-8210 # 235

What is Shepherds of Good Hope doing to assist?
Staff has been advised to communicate cold weather warnings and offer continual reminders to cover up extremities as individuals enter and exit our property. Staff work closely with clients suffering from mental health issues who may not know to dress appropriately for the weather during these very cold days.

All Programs are equipped with “winter bins” containing hats, mitts, scarves, and long underwear.

Clients without adequate outerwear are provided with winter jackets and boots from our clothing program.

Staff are more flexible with our hours. This involves our soup kitchen extending its hours and common areas in programs being opened to the homeless on frigid days.

Postings in programs and informing residents of Severe Weather Warnings (provided through the City of Ottawa)

We would like to make the community aware of the contact number 613 580-2626 if someone is spotted on the street and in need of shelter this winter. (City of Ottawa)

Spirits are often low in shelters during the winter months as low temperatures impact mood and overall comfort on the street. Inside of the shelters we see ways in which this Holiday Season may adversely influence the mood of those inside affected by memories of better times of a Christmas spent with their families.

People can help by dropping off hats, scarfs, gloves, mitts, socks, underwear, and winter boots on location at 233 Murray St. Ottawa ON.

All of the Kelly Funeral Homes in Ottawa collaborate every year for a toiletry drive to go to Shepherds.  As you can see, they went above and beyond expectations!

We’d like to thank Kelly Funeral Homes for their continuing support of the homeless and poor in our community!

On December 14th, Vince and Troy raised money for Shepherds of Good Hope.  They put on a Hip Hop dance and raised $200 plus 2 suitcases of winter clothes for our clients!  This was their second year doing “Hip Hop Dance for a Cause” – last year they raised money to go to Haiti.

Thanks so much to two wonderful and caring boys!

This is Rob Eady with Senior Vice-President, Postal Transformation, Cal Hart.

For more informatioin on our Christmas Hamper Program CLICK HERE

To see Canada Post videos with Shepherds’ Santa CLICK HERE

This is Ray Otten passing on a cheque to Paul Soucie!

Each year they have an annual meeting and choose a charity to support. This year, Shepherds of Good Hope was chosen. Thanks also go out to Tannis!