Holy Trinity School

Today on my regular visit with all of our kitchen volunteers, I met some new friends,  the kids from Holy Trinity School.  They came in to volunteer and make sandwiches for our clients.

Thanks for helping out the hungry in your community!

Less Than A Week Away!

A Taste for Hope is less than week away!  It promises to be the event of the season and we would love for you to be there! 

Superb chefs serving sumptuous, specialty dishes will delight your palate and a selection of fine wines, local beers and exciting, new cocktail temptations will be sure to make this elegant evening memorable. Don’t forget to take part in the thrill of both silent and live auctions with one-of-kind auction items.

All proceeds from this event will support the over 1600 men and women who come through Shepherds of Good Hope doors every day.

A Taste for Hope

Jean Pigott Hall, Ottawa City Hall, 110 Laurier Avenue West (Ottawa) Wednesday, March 25, 6pm to 9 pm

$150.00 Each ticket will receive a $100.00 tax receipt.

Get Your Tickets Here

With more than 18 chefs, including:

Jonathan Korecki

Sidedoor & Restaurant 18

Jonathan - or Chef Jonny - was born into a family of food and farmers, spending his youth with his hands in the earth producing vegetables and an arms distance from an apron pickling, preserving and jamming.  After cooking through the country from his hometown of Caledon, Ont. to Vancouver he enlisted to Le Cordon Bleu Ottawa where he studied classical french cuisine.  Working in the acclaimed Henry Burger, then apprenticing under Susur Lee in Toronto he became familiar with Asian flavours and combinations. This brought together his first executive chef position opening the acclaimed Sidedoor in Ottawa’s byward market. After honing his skills as a chef he took the executive chef position of CAA 4 diamond Restaurant 18 as well.

Who Else Will Be There?

There will also be some fabulous auction items!  We have something for everyone!

• Golf Packages
• Airline Tickets
• Train Tickets
• Restaurant Certificates
• Jewellery
• Autographed Sens Jersey
• Artwork
• Spa Packages

And Much More!

Don't miss out on this wonderful event that you'll be talking about all year! 

Get Your Tickets Here!

Get More Info Here!

Bytown Chefs Collective

The Bytown Chefs Collective is a new collaborative initiative created by a group of Ottawa Chefs that are focused on creating unique dining experiences in the National Capital.  They will be at A Taste for Hope on March 25th in support of the most vulnerable in our community!

Come join us for Shepherds of Good Hope 3rd Annual A Taste for Hope! This glamorous affair promises to excite your taste buds from the sumptuous offerings from some of Ottawa’s finest chefs. Enjoy the atmosphere and listen to bluesy jazz as you sample fine wines and local beers.  That is not all,  wait until you see the great items at the silent auction table and be part of the exhilaration created from the live auction.

Enjoy an evening like no other while helping support the great work at Shepherds of Good Hope and by showing our clients that they have not been forgotten.

Jean Pigott Hall, Ottawa City Hall, 110 Laurier Avenue West (Ottawa) 

Wednesday, March 25, 6pm to 9 pm

$150.00 Each ticket will receive a $100.00 tax receipt.

 

Get Your Tickets Here

 

Three fantastic members of the Bytown Chefs Collective that will be in attendance are:

 Chef Stephen La Salle, The Albion Rooms

Chef Stephen La Salle is a proud Ottawa native. After studying at Algonquin College and working in area restaurants, in 2012 he joined the team at Novotel Ottawa to open The Albion Rooms in his first chef position in March 2013. 
Chef La Salle strives to showcase the region and contemporary Canadian cuisine at The Albion Rooms, in 2014 he was selected as one of Ottawa’s top 10 and competed at the Gold Medal Plates Ottawa culinary competition.

Chef Ian Carswell, KW Catering

Having grown up in Petawawa, Ian Carswell found his love of the kitchen lifestyle at Nippissing College, where he worked part- time at a family diner. After apprenticing in North Bay, Ottawa and Toronto, he went to Europe. “I had amazing experiences there, particularly at Helsinki’s Chez Dominique, ranked in the top 25 restaurants in the world. It was intense – I worked 100 hours a week but I learned so much.”

Ian landed at Absinthe Café when he returned to Ottawa and he moved next to K.W. Catering where he quickly rose to become executive chef. At just 29 years of age, Ian enjoys the responsibility of running the National Gallery’s busy kitchen, serving up a blend of classical French cuisine with modernist touches.

 Chef Kyle Mortimer-Proulx, Lowertown Brewery

Kyle got his earliest cooking lessons from his mother, who believed everyone should know their way around the kitchen. Getting his first kitchen job at age 15, Kyle knew then what he wanted to do: become a chef.

After graduating from Algonquin College's chef training program, Kyle began working as a cook at the Brookstreet Hotel, first under Chef Michael Blackie and later with Chef Clifford Lyness. He rose quickly through the ranks to become Sous-chef.

In 2012, Kyle left Brookstreet to become Chef de cuisine at ZenKitchen. Following Chef Caroline's departure in February, 2013, Kyle was named ZenKitchen Executive Chef.

Most recently, Kyle became Executive Chef at Lowertown Brewery a new Brew house and creative kitchen in the Byward Market.

Get Your Tickets Here!

Get More Info Here!

#JOEYCupOfCare

Yesterday was an exciting day in the soup kitchen!  This time with amazing soup from JOEY Lansdowne!

JOEY Restaurants has an initiative called JOEY Cup of Care where staff from the restaurants prep and prepare thousands of bowls of soup for hungry people in the community.  We had the pleasure of having the JOEY staff in our kitchen to serve lunch and dinner for our wonderful clients.

The JOEY staff also pitched in with day to day chores of prepping vegetables

And we also had special guest server, Mayor Jim Watson there at dinner to serve the delicious soup to our clients.

 

Thank you so much to JOEY Lansdowne and Mayor Jim Watson for helping us help those in our community!

Mitzvah Day 2015

Mitzvah Day is a day when a group of people get together and volunteer and perform good deeds in the community. 
David Smith from Creative Kosher Catering and his staff decided that they wanted to come down to our soup kitchen and serve an amazing dinner to those in our care.  All the clients in the shelter as well as residents from our downtown supportive living programs were served a delicious meal of smoked meat, potatoes, salad and dessert.  We are incredibly grateful to David and his staff for sharing their passion of food with this city's most vulnerable population.

Durwin

I just wanted to share with you a touching story about the success of one of our residents, Durwin.

It has been over one year since Hope Living moved to Kanata and life for Durwin couldn’t be better! When Durwin first came to Shepherds of Good Hope he was very introspective and did not relate well to others. He stayed in his room most of the time and did not speak to many people at all. Then a big change happened. The Hope Living program, along with Durwin left the chaotic downtown core and took residence at 145 Castlefrank Road in Kanata.

Slowly, Durwin came out of his shell. He said he was more relaxed in this new environment because the suburbs were quieter. He got away from the drugs and alcohol so prevalent on the streets of the inner core of the city and was able to concentrate on creating a better life for himself. The first thing he did was learn the bus routes so he could do his shopping and buy his food. After years of not playing piano he sat down at the piano in the residence and surprised everyone with his skill. The staff were thrilled and the other residents were pleased to hear this beautiful music coming from Durwin.

He also decided to learn a trade that would help him find work and so he chose bookkeeping. Durwin then did correspondence for the lessons in bookkeeping and studied quite hard. When he felt ready, he wrote exams and scored a whopping 83%! Durwin is now a certified bookkeeper. Durwin also keeps busy working in the residence tuck shop and emptying the vending machines and counting the money.

Durwin’s world has completely changed and so has Durwin. He is a new man with purpose, direction and goals. In this new environment and with continued encouragement from staff Durwin has no other place to go but up.

MaxSys

Today we had a surprise visit from Robert Kearney from MaxSys to spread some holiday cheer and present us with a cheque to help those we serve this holiday season!

Always great to have such thoughtful neighbours pop in!

Export Development Canada

On Friday December 12^th we had a special group of volunteers from EDC. This wonderful volunteers came to help spread the holiday cheer by making a special meal for the women who live in Brigid’s Place, a Shepherds of Good Hope supportive living facility for the most street entrenched and hardest-to-serve women in the city of Ottawa due to addiction issues, mental health and factors relating to past trauma. All of the 11 women who are currently staying at Brigid’s have experienced exceptionally difficult lives and they were so grateful to the volunteers for taking the time to make them such a special meal. 

  

 

The volunteers had a great time volunteering together but the joy they brought to our ladies is what really marks the holiday spirit. 

If you would like to volunteer, or bring in a group to volunteer, please click HERE.

Shoebox Project for Shelters

Today Christmas came early for the women in our care!  Shoebox Project for Shelters is a group of Ottawa women that get together and make gifts for women in the shelter system.  This is a wonderful way to show that they are special and in our thoughts.

76 beautifully wrapped gifts will go to Women's Hope Outreach and Women's Special Care Unit.  To learn more about our programs, please visit our website.

On Christmas Day, everyone staying in our programs will receive a special gift.  If you would like to contribute financially to providing a shoebox for someone in our care, please CLICK HERE.

If you want to build boxes yourself, please contact me at asilverman@shepherdsofgoodhope.com

Members of Parliament Guest Servers

Today we had members of Parliament and the Parliamentary Senate serving lunch in the soup kitchen. Senators Asha Seth, Jim Munson, Senator Tobias Enverga and MP Joe Daniel took time out of their busy schedules to come and assist with the noon meal.

In the spirit of the holiday season, Senator Asha Seth generously sponsored the lunch was able to meet and speak with the most vulnerable men and women amongst us.

There was close to 500 people in our lunch line today for the wonderful meal that was served. Clients were absolutely thrilled to receive large chicken breasts and chocolates for dessert. Some of the guests were even overheard saying it was the best meal they ever had!

We are so grateful to Senators Seth, Munson, Enverga and MP Daniel for their compassion and dedication to the homeless and impoverished in our community.