By CKPGToday

Preparing for St. Vincent de Paul’s Thanksgiving Meal

Oct 5, 2017 | 12:44 PM

18 College of New Caledonia Professional Cooking students, along with their Instructor, Chef Ron Christian, have been hard at work this week. They have been preparing a banquet big enough to feed nearly 1,000 people.
CNC has had a hand in the St. Vincent de Paul Society’s Thanksgiving brunch for 12 years.
According to Chef Christian, the number of people served increases each year. “We started with 550 [people], then 600. We have gone up to 700, we have gone up to 800. We have even gone up to 850.”
CNC students cook and prep the food provided by St. Vincent de Paul. This year’s meal features 17 (25 pound) turkeys, 12 boned and rolled hams, 250 pounds of mashed potatoes, 130 litres of gravy and hundreds of pounds of vegetables and salads.
“My students volunteer for this function and they are credited professional hours because they need professional hours to complete the program,” says Chef Christian.
He adds when there is a need, CNC steps up. “You look at the summer and the fires, I mean CNC was big. [We] served a lot of people in the college here for those people that had to evacuate from their surrounding communities. Well in this case, these people [in need] are in this community so we service them. So it’s very good.”
The Thanksgiving brunch will be served at 11 a.m. on Sunday, October 8th, at Sacred Heart Cathedral (887 Patricia Boulevard). Any leftovers from the meal will be used to feed people at the St. Vincent de Paul Society’s Drop-In Centre.