Casserole Project

The Toronto East Rotary Club Casserole Project started in 2001, evolving from a desire for our members to become more “hands-on” with our community service projects. Homelessness in Toronto is a problem and feeding those in need was established as the goal of this particular club endeavour.

We started by looking for a partner and found a natural recipient in the Good Shepherd Ministries. Located at Queen & Parliament Streets in Toronto, the Good Shepherd provides 750 hot meals daily, and nightly lodging for the homeless and disadvantaged.

Our members are not in a position to physically attend the Good Shepherd at meal time, but we decided that shopping and cooking for them was certainly an option. Hence the project evolved … prepare Shepherd’s Pies.

On Saturday Feb 27 we will assemble at 2 pm at Timothy Eaton United Church.  The church graciously provides us with the use of their commercial kitchens.  We bring spouses, partners, children, neighbours, potential Rotarians and anyone else interested in assisting. The gathering is generally large and that is one of the main reasons we chose Shepherd’s Pie. It has lots of ingredients and is somewhat labour intensive, thus lots of jobs for everyone present.

The actual prep time is generally 2-3 hours and we produce 25–50 Shepherd’s Pies, enough to feed 250–500 people. The finished cuisine is then loaded in cars and brought to the refuge or placed in a freezer for delivery at a later date.

But the fun has just begun. Having completed a satisfying day of Community Service, it is Toronto East tradition to have a family dinner of our own. For those who came make it, we will gather at a local restaurant for dinner and fellowship. We only have one rule … no one orders Shepherd’s Pie.

In the years since Toronto East started this project, we have fed thousands of individuals in downtown Toronto. Please join us on Feb 27^th