Boyle Street calls for Thanksgiving support

What are you looking forward to this Thanksgiving? A belly full of turkey or tofurkey? Maybe just a place where you can feel welcome? The clients of Boyle Street Community Services may not be able to count on the same. The organization's annual Thanksgiving dinner is at risk due to higher costs associated with the move to okimaw peyesew kamik (King Thunderbird Centre), which opened in late 2025, as well as the increased day-to-day expenses of providing services to Edmontonians experiencing homelessness and housing instability. All of this has constrained the organization's ability to deliver a long-standing tradition.

"For more than 15 years, Boyle Street has been committed to providing a dignified, sit-down meal with all the Thanksgiving fixings to anyone who needs one," external relations director Elliott Tanti said in a release asking for donations. "It is a simple thing, but it matters enormously to the people we serve." Even if you've never faced housing instability, you may have experienced a Friendsgiving, which is analogous. There's an artful opportunity to see the work Boyle Street does ahead of Thanksgiving, as Busyrawk will unveil his latest mural, Black Tortoise of the North 北方玄武, at King Thunderbird on Oct. 3. The event at 10740 99 Street NW is both a celebration and a commemoration, featuring live music from acts such as Melafrique and thoughtful spaces in which to grieve loss and injustice. Maybe bring a fiver (or more) to support Thanksgiving?

Boyle Street is hardly alone in the challenges to provide food to those who need it. Food Banks Alberta and its 112 members are calling for corporate donations of food and money as they face disastrous shortages across the province. Edmonton's Food Bank was hoping to collect 100,000 kilograms of food during its annual door-to-door food drive on Sept. 19. Its Harvest Luncheon fundraiser on Oct. 22 is sold out, but there are other ways to give.