The Romero House building. (Staff photo)
COVID-19 has increased soup kitchen usage throughout the region, and Romero House is no exception.
The executive director of the uptown Saint John soup kitchen said they are serving about 40 per cent more meals than normal.
Evelyn McNulty said the soup kitchen, located on Brunswick Drive, served more than 10,600 meals in October alone.
“November I’m anticipating is going to be worse than that again,” said McNulty. “For the last two weeks, pretty much consistently we’ve been over 400 meals a day.”
McNulty hopes the 14th annual food drive at Ritchie’s on Rothesay Avenue will keep them going through the winter.
The food drive takes place from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Wednesday through Friday, and from 8 a.m. until noon Saturday.
McNulty said the organizers have been forced to make a few changes because of the ongoing pandemic.
“Ritchie’s has changed the food drive to be a little shorter than it was typically and there’s a little more social distancing with the drop-off of food to go on the truck,” said McNulty.
The food drive will run over four days this year instead of 10 days like last year.
McNulty said they are looking for a few additional items on top of their food staples this year.
“Disposable containers and what not to put the meals in. Coffee cups with lids are also a big one. It’s my intention to try and pass out hot chocolate to people when it gets cold so that they at least have something to sip on on the way home,” she said.
The soup kitchen closed its doors to the public at the height of the pandemic and has been serving its meals through a takeout window, meaning users cannot come inside to warm up.
McNulty said the fundraiser is critical for the soup kitchen because they do not receive any government support.
“The community has always been very, very, very good to Romero House. Saint John is an awesome city, really. We’re a poor city and we have a bad rap for being a poor city, but we’re also a very, very generous and concerned city for our fellow citizens.”
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