'Friendsgiving' brings LGTBQ community together for holiday meal
The 'friendsgiving' meal feeds about 150 people
Thanksgiving isn't a time of warmth and welcoming for everyone. For those who may not have family around this Thanksgiving, some local groups have come together to host a "friendsgiving" for the Windsor LGBTQIA2S+ community.
"It's giving back to the community for those who are home by themselves, they'd have no family" said Wendi Nicholson, president of Windsor-Essex Pride.
"We have three seatings and you know, everybody just comes in and enjoys themselves together."
The donation for the meal was made by GreenShield's Pride employee resource group, and the meal will be free, with turkey and all the trimmings, including roasted vegetables, pies and cranberry sauce.
All attendees were asked to RSVP for one of the 150 available spots and it was open to everyone, Nicholson said.
Nicholson said it also helps people find community and connection especially coming into the holiday season, a difficult time of year for many.
"This time of the year, the holidays, this is our highest rate of suicides is coming into the holiday season ," Nicholson said. "Let's do something so people aren't having that stress on them and that way they can be with other people in the community."
"This way they're here, they can spend a couple of hours, sit down, chitchat with people. It at least gives them a sense of belonging in the community and knowing that they are not alone."
The meal was hosted at the Barbershop Bar, and bar chef Shaun Gereghty said there were representatives from a variety of community services, like Pozitive Pathways and Trans Wellness Ontario, on site for anyone who needed it.
"Not only at this time where it's really hard to afford food with rising food costs and everything else like that, but there are a lot of people who are alone at this time of year," Gereghty said.
"Whether they have unsupportive families or new to the city, anything else like that, they can come in and have a meal, get some support and see that they're loved and appreciated in our community."
with files from Jacob Barker