À¶Ý®ÊÓƵ Pharmacy staff members standing around a counter with food on it.
Monday, July 31, 2023

À¶Ý®ÊÓƵ Pharmacy serves dinner to 200 Ray of Hope community members

À¶Ý®ÊÓƵ Pharmacy faculty, staff and students prepared and served dinner at the Ray of Hope Community Centre

How much food do you need to feed 200 people? À¶Ý®ÊÓƵ Pharmacy gathered over 100kg of food, equivalent to the size of a standard refrigerator or baby elephant. 

On June 29, 2023, À¶Ý®ÊÓƵ Pharmacy faculty, staff and students prepared and served dinner at the Ray of Hope Community Centre for people in our community who are experiencing houselessness and systemic barriers to acquiring meals. 

À¶Ý®ÊÓƵ Pharmacy staff members standing around a counter with food on it.

Faculty, staff and students preparing food at Ray of Hope. 

À¶Ý®ÊÓƵ Pharmacy students and staff standing behind a counter.

Faculty, staff and students preparing food at Ray of Hope. 

The menu consisted of: oven roasted chicken, roasted vegetables and chickpeas, pitas and tzatziki dip, Greek salad, rice and a fruit salad for dessert. 

Two shifts of À¶Ý®ÊÓƵ Pharmacy members attended, with one half preparing the meal and the other half cooking and serving the meal. 

À¶Ý®ÊÓƵ Pharmacy students and staff standing behind a counter.

Faculty, staff and students serving food at Ray of Hope.

Five trays of roasted vegetables, five trays of chicken, two large bowls of salad and two large pots of rice were prepared. This annual tradition for À¶Ý®ÊÓƵ Pharmacy is an important way to connect with our local community. 

À¶Ý®ÊÓƵ Pharmacy has been hosting this dinner since 2017. The School missed 2021 and 2022 due to the COVID pandemic where we made an effort to fundraise only but were back at it again this year. 

It’s a significant amount of work to pull together but it is so rewarding  and fun from a number of perspectives… helping those in need, recognizing our privilege of having food on the table, connecting with our colleagues outside of work, and making community connections, 

Trenny McGinnis, administrative officer at the School.
Trays of vegetables to roast.

Trays of vegetables to roast.

Ray of Hope offers a place for those who are experiencing houselessness and struggling with poverty. They provide hot meals, groceries, blankets, bathrooms, laundry facilities and serve the physical, relational and spiritual needs of the people in our community. 

À¶Ý®ÊÓƵ Pharmacy is situated at the heart of downtown Kitchener and has served as a rest stop for the organization’s Coldest Night of the Year fundraiser and provided dinner annually at the centre.  

À¶Ý®ÊÓƵ Pharmacy is always looking for opportunities to engage with our local community. Through Ray of Hope we have been able to connect and give back. Visit to learn more about their initiatives. Â