Island groups look to brighten Thanksgiving despite ongoing power outages

Thousands of Maritime Electric customers have had their power restored this long weekend, but many Islanders are still expected to spend Thanksgiving Monday in the dark.

As of 5:30 p.m. Sunday, about 4,700 customers were still in the dark, 16 days after post-tropical storm Fiona knocked out electricity across the Island. That's down from 11,000 Friday afternoon.

In a tweet on Sunday, Maritime Electric said over 240 crews were working to restore power, adding that some jobs will "require several crews and multiple hours, or even days, to complete."

The utility had said earlier this week it could be three weeks before some customers get their power back.

Despite that, some Islanders are taking steps to make Thanksgiving less gloomy.

The Kings Playhouse in Georgetown has organized a community Thanksgiving dinner that's free for members of the community. Organizers will also offer takeout and delivery for residents.

Executive director Haley Zavo said most Georgetown residents got their power back in the first five days after the storm, but it took as long as 11 days for some in the outskirts.

She said some people in the community still remain without power.

"We've been through such a sort of a grueling few weeks," Zavo said. 

"The opportunity to sit down and share a meal together and maybe provide people with just a nice, free hot meal -- it just seemed like a really good opportunity to gather our community together, to celebrate Thanksgiving and also to enjoy each other's company."

Zavo said they're expecting a full house and have already reached capacity for their dinners.

'We have many things to be thankful for'

The Salvation Army Charlottetown Community Church is also preparing a meal.

Corps officer John Burton said it was a "last-minute" decision amid many relief efforts undertaken by the organization.

"Thanksgiving snuck up on us, but we wanted to obviously continue what we were doing to help the community," he said.

The dinner will be takeaway since the organization doesn't have enough volunteers to do a sit-down, Burton said. They expect to serve over 100 people.

"The dinner is actually for anyone in the community," Burton said. "Anyone that's been affected by the storm that still doesn't have power ... We've encountered lots of people who've lost almost all their food. And so there's a lot of people that may not be able to afford a turkey, so we want to help them out, too."

Volunteers will be serving dinner between 4 and 6 p.m. on Monday.

"I just want people to recognize ... that they're not alone, that people care about them, and that we have many things to be thankful for, even though we went through such a terrible time with this storm," Burton said.

Reception centres offering Thanksgiving meals

Reception centres in Tignish Shore, North Shore, West River, Kingston, Miltonvale Park, Clyde River, Morell, the Resort Municipality and Three Rivers will all be serving hot Thanksgiving meals for residents who are unable to celebrate due to the power outages.

The province said that the meals will be available for pick-up on Monday as part of a partnership with municipalities and other local authorities. Islanders are asked to contact their local reception centre for more details.

"Offering a hot meal for people who are still not connected back to the grid is a small gesture that we hope can fill a small gap during an incredibly tough time for our province," Premier Dennis King said in the release.