A Port Moody family showed their Thanksgiving spirit this year by making dinner for more than 100 people displaced by an apartment fire last Wednesday.
The Mountain View Co-Op caught fire last Wednesday, and it took firefighters hours to fully contain the blaze. Fifty apartments were torched and more than 100 people were left homeless.
Community members Sharron Tulk and Chantal Falk decided to organize dinner for the building’s residents while out on a run.
“We could actually still smell the smoke, and we were pretty overwhelmed about how many people lost their homes,” says Falk. “About two hours later I get a phone call from Chantal saying ‘We're serving dinner for about 120 people this week’ and I said ‘Great where do we start?’”
With the help of friends and family, the women started cooking in Falk’s kitchen on Friday. Donations from local businesses also began pouring in, including pound after pound of turkey, carrots, stuffing, and 50 pumpkin pies.
Even the flower centre pieces were donated, something Tulk says is a testament to the community.
“I’m overwhelmed with the response, and I’m not surprised,” she says. “Port Moody, the Tri-Cities area is just a wonderful community, and this is just great.”
The dinner was held Sunday at 4 p.m. at a recreation centre in one of the apartment buildings not damaged by the fire. Around 120 people of all ages showed up, clearly touched by the gesture.
“We really appreciate what Port Moody did for us, and all these people here that helped us to survive these hard moments,” says one man who attended the dinner.
“It’s fantastic, everyone rallying around,” another attendee told CTV news. “It’s great, we really appreciate it.”
The dinner’s organizers were also thrilled by the event’s success.
“I feel great, I feel really great,” says Falk. “There are such amazing, lovely people here, and they’re hungry, which is great because we made a lot of food. I’m really happy.”
With files from CTV Vancouver’s St John Alexander
