Local organizations are looking for 1,000 community members willing to donate $30 a month to Royal City Mission.
The amount is enough for the downtown charity to return to operating seven days a week, seven hours a day, serving two meals a day. RCM saw service cuts in the spring due to a lack of funding, dropping to only one meal a day five days a week; it’s currently closed on Mondays and Tuesdays.
The campaign, dubbed ‘More than Meals,’ was launched by a number of organizations including Guelph Greens, the Guelph District Labour Council, OPIRG, the New Democratic Party (NDP) Electoral District Associations (EDAs), and other concerned community members in an effort to raise both awareness and funding for the unhoused.
“They recognized that we had a loss of funding and had to close down for two days,” said RCM executive director and pastor Kevin Coghill. “They realized that if they could find 1,000 people to donate $30 a month, we would have enough to open up again.”
RCM provides a meal service and drop-in centre to those in need. Last year they served over 85,000 meals. But as noted in the campaign name, it’s about more than just food: They offer a welcoming space, storage for belongings, recreational programs, care through partner clinics and nurses, service navigation and more.
“Our community is feeling (the impact of being closed) immensely, because there’s not a consistent place to be,” he said. “It’s about community too. That is as big a problem as hunger; we need to make sure that people are connected and being cared for.”
Coghill said the need is large, and other agencies have been struggling with the amount of people coming through since they’ve reduced hours, “and they’re not necessarily set up to be open for that kind of thing.”
So far, 12 donors have signed up to contributing $30 a month, or $360 per year.
They plan to do a “fairly large launch” of the campaign in the new year.
In the meantime, groups like Your Downtown Guelph Friends are providing meals on Mondays and Tuesdays in St. George's Square.
Anyone who wants to contribute can learn more here.
