The Saskatoon Friendship Inn is exploring the addition of a supper program to their list of services following the success of a recent pilot project.
CEO Sandra Kary says on Tuesdays and Thursday during June, the dining room was opened up between 4:00 and 5:00 p.m. to whoever wanted a hot meal.
The pilot saw significant uptick, with 130 meals served per hour and a total of 1,191 meals shared over the month. The offering also brought to light how many families with school-aged children are struggling to get by. So, Kary says the idea of a supper program is, pardon the pun, on the table.
“We’re just trying to figure out how are next steps can work to do a sustainable offering, but it really depends on the community and the support we get to make sure we can do it sustainably.”
Between July 1st, 2024, and June 30th, 2025, the Saskatoon Friendship Inn served 451,035 meals. Kary acknowledges that’s only an increase of 3 per cent year-over-year, but even small increments add up over time.
“We’re almost running to capacity. We’ve got a little bit more room to grow, but we’re already looking at how we can do more as the size of our community grows.”
She adds that renovations and adaptations are taking place on the inside to optimize the building’s capabilities as the demand for services continues to increase. Not only are the staff seeing more people come through the doors, but the severity of clients’ situations is visibly worsening.
“People that are struggling with finding secure housing, struggling with employment, we see that more and more. We see how addictions and meal health is taking its toll on a lot of our community…I think the struggle is getting deeper and it’s more obvious.”
On the bright side, increased donation rates are helping combat a rise in users. Kary says last year, the Inn received 965,782 pounds of food, a 10.4 per cent increase year-over-year.
She reminds the public that the Inn is always accepting food donations, financial support, and volunteers, and more can be found at friendshipinn.ca.
