Peggy stated “We had a regular crew of about 20 people. The need for socialization kind of became really evident. Then as the weather warmed up, because there was such a need for socialization I didn’t want to close Out of the Cold. Not very long after that a chef in the city who wanted to give back some of his time and talent, connected with me. That was the first of May and the first of June we opened up the Open Arms Café.” The name came about from one of their regular clients who said there were few places in the city that open their doors with ‘open arms’.

The planning well in advance with menus set for a month at a time. The menus are largely established based on the weekly specials. Usually 3-4 volunteers work all day on the meal preparation, with additional help in the afternoon for the set and more by 5 pm for the serving.

The entire process is completely run by volunteers and donations. Some grocery stores do provide some donate food.  “The Gathering Place has been fantastic at giving us fresh vegetables and things, anything they’re not using.” Peggy said.

The doors are open at 5:30, and usually two hours later, the serving is finished, clean-up is complete and visitors are gone.

The church is also the site of the “North Bay Warming Centre”, so on cold winter Wednesdays, visitors don’t have to leave right away.

Morrison says that has given her the idea to possibly expand the hours for the Open Arms, to allow for guests to stay later and socialize, if they want.

For now, she’s content to just continue to greet North Bay’s vulnerable, with Open Arms.

A group has launched a fundraising initiative called Feed North Bay, by selling t-shirts. Please click here for more information.