Out of the cold

May/June 2010

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Monica Donovan, an OLM associate and one of the original founders of St. Brigid’s program

Late each Monday afternoon, Sr. Joan Missiaen and I head for the Out of the Cold program of St. Brigid’s Parish in Toronto. Here we help out in serving supper to more than one hundred people. Sr. Susan Moran, co-founder of the program often accompanies us and is well known by many of our guests.

There we join Monica Donovan (top photo at right), an OLM associate and one of the original founders of St. Brigid’s program, who has been working all day, sorting and preparing clothing for our guests. Vita Jan, a great worker, is also there preparing a delicious and nourishing meal which will be served in the evening and also a warm breakfast to be served before people leave the next morning. Also present are Therese Minoque along with her sons, Patrick, Brian, Daniel, and his friend Chantel, all university students. They are experts at washing and sterilizing the many dishes, pots, and pans used to prepare and serve the meal.

The three of us feel blessed to spend time and share stories with the guests and many volunteers that gather at St. Brigid’s every Monday evening.
Sr. Cecile Turner, O.L.M.

L-R: Sr. Cecile Turner, Out of Cold volunteer Margaret McAndrew, and Sr. Joan Missiaen.

Out of the Cold welcomes those who suffer from loneliness, hunger, and homelessness. These are our sisters and brothers who are poor in Toronto, other cities in Ontario and throughout Canada. All of us who are privileged to work in Out of the Cold are greatly blest by the love and compassion we encounter among the homeless we meet.

The Out of the Cold program has grown into a family of Interfaith churches, synagogues, mosques, as well as individuals and families that open their lives and doors, welcoming our sisters and brothers to dinner, overnight and breakfast in the morning.
Sr. Susan Moran, O.L.M.

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