Volunteers breaking bread and creating community

March 4, 2022

Before his death in 2010, Robert Mitchell’s passion for helping homeless people built a foundation for a regular Saturday night community dinner in Haney, and a community of people who help those living on the streets.

Mitchell worked at a machine shop on 223rd Street near Beckett Park, the former site of the Anita Place Tent City. Back in 2004, he would cook for people living on the street. He, and wife Teri, lived in an apartment nearby.

“He would wheel his barbecue all the way down the street from our house, and we’d do barbecues,” Teri recalled.

“He always had a heart for people on the street. He was an alcoholic, with 25 years in recovery.”

They would go into the shop and plug in a coffee maker, and the pair would stand outside with the barbecue, flipping burgers and turning hotdogs. Eventually it would draw a crowd.

“We had a friend who as an RCMP officer who lived in our building who would volunteer there as well,” recalled Teri.

Source: Maple Ridge News