ST. JOHN'S, N.L. — Juanita Mercer
The Telegram
A cloudy Wednesday during a pandemic isn’t a day that you’d think would be busy at a high-end St. John’s restaurant, but Merchant Tavern and Terre chefs were cooking up a scoff — 100 meals, to be exact.
They were distributed to at-risk youth in St. John’s and surrounding communities by volunteers with Artforce and Safe Harbour Outreach Project.
The initiative was organized by Artforce executive director Gemma Hickey.
The organization, formally known as For the Love of Learning, uses creative projects to boost the self-esteem and employability of people ages 15 to 30 experiencing socioeconomic challenges. It also helps youth with basic needs, such as food.
Before the COVID-19 pandemic, young people would drop in to Artforce in person, but now Hickey does outreach over the phone or virtually, and delivers care packages to doorsteps.
“What’s been coming up time and time again is a fear of having to go out and line up for food, and potentially exposing themselves to the virus.
“And with mental-health issues on the rise — on top of the anxiety and depression that they already experience due to the many socioeconomic challenges that they face — I wanted to do something to address their basic need for food, but also, I wanted to do something special,” Hickey said, adding the support shown by the restaurant chefs and owners was “overwhelming.”
The chefs created two different dishes, with Terre making fried chicken and Merchant Tavern serving pasta.
In a news release from Artforce, Merchant Tavern co-owner and chef Jeremy Charles said he couldn’t wait to partner with the organization on the project.
“It’s an incredible organization that inspires youth to rise above circumstance, but nobody can do that when they’re hungry,” Charles was quoted in the news release.
Matt Swift, chef at Terre, stated in the news release that he has time on his hands right now and wants to give back to the community, “and helping youth is a cause that’s close to my heart.”
Artforce has applied for funding to continue the initiative during the coming months as the pandemic drags on.
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