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The Gathering Place seeing a grim “new normal” 

There’s been no shortage of talk about what the “new normal” will look like for the world after the COVID-19 pandemic. 

For Dennis Chippa, Executive Director of The Gathering Place, the “new normal” is already here. 

“When we’re doing our planning for meals, we’re preparing for 200 because that’s the new normal. The new reality is it’s more than possible that we see that many people coming through the doors,” Chippa explained. 

The Gathering Place has been serving a record number of meals in recent weeks as Ontario is in the midst of its latest lockdown. On Monday, the kitchen announced it had broken its own “record” with 130 meals served for breakfast in one hour. 

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Chippa says his staff continues to see new and returning faces come to the kitchen for a meal.

“We don’t know why. There are a lot of people who we haven’t seen for several months that are now coming in,” he said, speculating some families have been “hanging on for as long as they can.” 

In order to accommodate the increase in clientele, The Gathering Place continues to rescue leftover food from the city’s grocery stores. Chippa says the amount of food they are able to rescue is impacted by lockdowns, saying people tend to buy more at the grocery store when a stay-at-home order is looming. 

Along with his new normal, Chippa also thinks the “light at the end of the tunnel” may take longer to come for The Gathering Place and the people who need it. 

“I think it’s going to be a little bit longer for the folks that we serve to get back on their feet,” he said, adding he’s expecting the high numbers to remain for at least six months. “Probably by this time next year we could see the numbers drift down.” 

Through the uncertainty of the pandemic and subsequent increase in demand for food, Chippa remains optimistic. 

“We’re holding our own,” he concluded. 

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