Weekends often mean two days of hunger for those living on Victoria's streets, but a grant from the Victoria Foundation means lunches will soon be available on Saturdays and Sundays at Our Place.
The six-month program - which kicks off this Saturday, just in time for the cold weather - is like Christmas coming early, said Don Evans, Our Place executive director.
"This is a huge deal because there are very few places for people to get meals on weekends," he said. "Lunch seems to be the biggest gap."
The $49,608 grant fits with the Victoria Foundation's mandate, said CEO Sandra Richardson.
"The Victoria Foundation has identified poverty and food security as major concerns in our community," she said.
Evans hopes the pilot program will be the first step toward persuading other funders that there is a need for Our Place to be open seven days a week.
The weekend lunches are likely to make a noticeable difference on the street, he said.
"When people are fed they are less irritable and less and less angry," he said.
"This is a place for people to come, where they are safe and warm."
On weekends, when those in the street community have to buy food, they are likely to use money they get through panhandling, Evans said.
The weekend lunches "will also help people who have to use all their income to pay their rent," he said. "The average bachelor apartment in Victoria is $664 and on [social] assistance you get $610."
Evans is expecting the weekend lunches will draw between 300 and 400 people.
Our Place serves more than 1,200 meals every day from Monday to Friday.
