Christmas came early for residents of the Downtown Eastside as the Union Gospel Mission and Glowbal Restaurant Group got together to set a table for 2000. The event took place on Wednesday outside the UGM building on Princess Street between Hastings and Cordova. The menu featured hand-carved honey glazed ham, oven roasted beef strip loin with traditional festive gravy, buttered vegetables with fresh herbs, roasted-garlic mashed potatoes, fresh-baked buns, pasta and chocolate mousse tarts.
The Downtown Eastside is the poorest neighborhood in all of Canada. I grew up in this neighborhood. As a matter of fact, the house I grew up in is right across the street from the UGM. It’s been quite a journey to say the least. The British Properties of West Vancouver (my current home) are far removed from the Downtown Eastside but I will never forget where I came from. Congrats to Glowbal and UGM for helping to bring the spirit of Christmas to those who really need it.
Glowbal really went out of their way to make this Christmas one to remember for the homeless and hungry of Vancouver. The tent was big enough to hold 700 people per seating and was decorated with festive Christmas trees and lights. Guests were serenaded by carolers and the Vancouver Firefighters Band. At the end of the meal, guests were given a stocking full of small gifts for Christmas. To take the dining experience to the next level, the mission set up a valet shopping cart service and the SPCA was there to care of the dogs. The homeless were able to enjoy their meal knowing they wouldn’t have to worry about their belongings or pets.
An event like this is a great reminder on the true meaning of Christmas. Too often, we take what we have for granted and forget that there are many people less fortunate then us. For 2000 who sat down to eat, this was their first ever fine dining experience. Here are some photos of the event. The UGM uploaded a bunch more to their Facebook page. If you’re not a fan yet, you should become one. Merry Christmas!
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Looks like a great event John, nice job on giving back to the community. Merry Christmas.
Are you still there, Mr John ?
I like such posts John, did you take the pics yourself? As in were you there? Me and my team has been planning to set up a blog which will be for charity. All the revenues will go to charity for sure..Been planning for long. Hope things work out. Merry Xmas
I think you need to register as NGO to accept money for charity. In United States, rules and regulations are tough.
That sounds like it was a great dinner!Wish I had been there…God Bless!
Looks like they are getting into the holiday spirit! Check out the latest post on my blog for a list of the top five Christmas-related websites of 2009. Merry Christmas!
Wow, what a table…
But why aren’t you there too?
That’s really wonderful. What I love about your story is that is shows that it is possible to go from starting out with nothing to having both time freedom and financial success.
I think that there are two ingredients: desire and opportunity. The desire we get to find within us. That’s the hard part. The opportunity is unlimited. New tools and technologies (especially the Internet) make it possible for all of us to achieve anything.
Then, we can give back and help everyone else.
Thanks for sharing! And great pictures!
Nice pics, which camera was this?
Awesome work being done by awesome people having an awesome time….awesome stuff!
wow, nice job John.
If anyone has time to help at the UGM, please do so. The downtown eastside can use as much support as possible and the UGM is an integral part of helping and feeding the homeless.
I think it’s really cool John that you try and help out the community (or at least show up to support it).
a party , yeah this is what we love on the christmas season…lol
That’s the true holiday spirit! Thanks for sharing the pictures.
Good move to give back to the community
Wow nice snaps, I think you enjoyed a lot and you have done nice dinner over there, Cool…!
Very generous of them , wow , thats such an awesome doggie!