This is one of the hardest and most emotional decisions we’ve made in recent years at Santropol Roulant. We have now suspended all volunteer shifts in the kitchen for the duration of the sanitary crisis.
The kitchen of the Roulant has always been a place for inclusion, engagement, learning, conversation, and well-being. It really is at the heart of the organization. It is where staff do their morning check-in, to remind us of the importance of the kitchen and its volunteers in our vision for an empowered, well-fed community. On some days in the summer or fall, we even welcome up to 15 volunteers in a single day!
For the next few weeks, only staff will be preparing the meals.
While we usually prioritize the engagement of volunteers at the Roulant, the current situation has led us to make temporary adjustments to prioritize the health and safety of everyone and to respond to an urgent need by scaling up the volume of meals prepared and delivered each day.
Our current facilities and equipment don’t allow us to cook up to 150 meals per day in the usual format, while ensuring physical distancing to protect the health of staff and volunteers.
This is heart-breaking.
We can’t wait for the day we can re-open the kitchen doors to you. It will be a day of relief, a day of celebration.
A huge thank you to our occasional and regular kitchen volunteers. You are our everyday heroes. We miss you.
Ellen & Pier