Sandra Kary, the Saskatoon Friendship Inn’s Executive Director, says on March 4th, 1969, six hungry men were served the first bowls of soup. In the first year, an average of 100 meals were served per day. 50 years later they serve upwards of a thousand meals daily. Thursday, the Inn is celebrating its 50th anniversary.

Kary says at the time the Inn started churches in the community were receiving a lot of requests for food hampers and financial support. The Inner City Council of Churches and the Catholic Diocese came together to start the Friendship Inn, in the same location it exists in today.

She says it began through the vision of Jack Leier, the leadership of Reverend Bernard Dunn, the financial support of Our Lady of the Prairies Foundation and a building provided by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Saskatoon.

The opening remarks kick off at 4:15 pm with a barbeque and street fair, which includes a bouncy castle, face painting and live music, starting at 4:30 p.m. It all wraps up by 6:30 and it is open to everyone.

Once today’s celebration wraps up Sandra Kary says they will start gearing up for cooler weather and Thanksgiving. She says they welcome donations, all the things for a Thanksgiving meal like turkey vegetables and of course any seasonal pies. She says when the weather starts to get cooler they welcome donations of outerwear: mitts and toques and coats.