By Kiply Lukan Yaworski, Catholic Saskatoon News
Mission and outreach has continued throughout the summer in Saskatoon’s core neighbourhood, with coordination of donations and volunteers happening through the office that opened last year at St. Mary Parish.
Donated meals served by volunteers have fed hundreds of the church’s neighbours in recent weeks – including pizza nights, hot dog roasts, bannock dinners, and cultural food events.
“For a few hours, every week, our parish courtyard fills with people, conversation, food and community. Some come because they are hungry. Some come because they are lonely. Some simply need a safe place to be for a little while,” says St. Mary Mission and Outreach coordinator Jennifer Nunes.
The initiative addresses some of the food insecurity in the core neighbourhood, including for those with no housing, and for children in the neighbourhood who don’t have access to school food programs in the summer.
Working with partner agencies to try and fill in any gaps is an important goal for the St. Mary program, says Nunes, noting that her office strives to enhance rather than duplicate services provided by other partners, such as the Friendship Inn.
“The vision is not to replace, but to try to fill something there that maybe other groups and agencies don’t have the time for, or perhaps lack the volunteers to take on,” explains St. Mary pastor Fr. Kevin McGee.
To learn more, volunteer or donate: www.stmarysoutreach.com.
Volunteers serve a donated meal on the St. Mary Parish grounds. (Photo courtesy of Mission and Outreach Facebook page)
Most importantly, the meals offered in the courtyard of the Catholic church are a moment of encounter and relationship-building, stresses Nunes. “It creates a place where people can sit down, relax, feel safe, visit, laugh, talk, and simply be welcomed.”
Building relationships and sharing the love of God with those in need in the neighbourhood has been the primary goal of the parish’s Mission and Outreach Ministry since it was formally established a year ago with the help of donations, says Fr. McGee.
“In the past we were able to provide some presence as a parish … but this year, with an office and a coordinator, it has really been more robust,” he notes. “It has brought about intentional engagement, and an accompanying of people in a coordinated way.”
Encountering Christ in each other was also the primary focus of St. Mary volunteer outreach to men who found shelter this past winter in the Catholic church’s hall, the site of an overnight winter warm-up location operated by the Salvation Army.
Winter outreach
For the past three years, with funding from various levels of government, the Salvation Army has leased space from St. Mary Parish to operate the emergency overnight warm-up location for those without housing.
The decision to lease the hall to shelter those without housing came about under the leadership of pastor Fr. Kevin McGee after much discussion and discernment by the Saskatoon parish. However the desire to do even more in terms of personal connection and Christian outreach – by the parish, donors and the wider community – existed from the beginning, and the creation of the parish Mission and Ministry office has brought about a more coordinated and intentional effort, says McGee.
The new ministry receives no government funding and is funded entirely by donations, stresses Nunes.
This past winter, the church hall was open for men to warm up from 6 p.m. to 8 a.m. daily from Dec. 1 to March 31, with breakfast and supper provided by the Friendship Inn. The Sawēyihtotān overnight centre for women was provided in another location, on Avenue C.).
The Salvation Army’s final report on the 2025-26 winter warming centre at St. Mary Parish said that a total of 1,040 unique guests utilized the space, with 15,013 nightly stays recorded over 148 nights of operation. An average of about 100 guests sought shelter each night.
Asked what the warming centre meant to them, guests said:
- “Meant a lot, without it, I would probably freeze to death.”
- “Kept me alive.”
- “Dried my tears. I was freezing on the street. Nowhere else to turn.”
- “Saved his life twice while being here.”
- “It means the world.”
- “A lot. The warming centre has been a lot. You can lay down here — you can’t lay down outside in winter.”
- “It means a lot. Trying to sleep outside but I couldn’t. It’s harsh being homeless.”
- “It is better than last year. It changed for the better.”
- “Warmth, keeping out of trouble, food.”
- “I appreciate it. It’s a good resource. Thank you to everybody.”
The Salvation Army report states that for many guests, the warm-up location “was the difference between surviving the winter and not” and that a survey of men who stayed at the warm-up location indicated that over 75 per cent felt safe within the facility.
Several guests said that having the shelter inside a church brought them a specific sense of comfort and protection, notes the Salvation Army report.
“This connection between the physical space and the emotional experience of guests is worth noting — it suggests that the relationship between St. Mary’s Parish and the program is not merely logistical but meaningful to the people being served,” states the report.
Volunteer impact
The Salvation Army report also details the impact this year of the St. Mary Mission and Outreach Ministry volunteer program.
Coordinated by the donor-funded parish ministry office, volunteers supported the overnight location in practical ways, including providing donated snacks, clothing, blankets, and hygiene items, as well as providing an art station, movie nights, and other activities in the hall.
“They sat with guests, listened to their stories, prayed with those who wanted it, and offered the kind of unhurried human presence that is rare in any service environment,” says the Salvation Army Report. “Beyond the practical, volunteers did something harder to measure but equally important: they made guests feel that someone had chosen to be there with them. Not because it was their job, but because they wanted to be.”
Over the past year the St. Mary Mission and Outreach Ministry had 183 volunteers from across the diocese who were trained and active in different ways at the warm-up centre, says Nunes, “whether behind the scenes using their gifts, helping with organizing, collecting donations, preparing everything or those who came into the hall.”
In addition to movie nights with popcorn, viewing of The Chosen, and an art table, “people would ask for prayers, and many of them did ask for Bibles,” she adds.
The Salvation Army report summarizes: “Volunteers from St. Mary’s parish and the broader Saskatoon community gave their time, presence, and care to the men who used the facility — not as a formal service delivery mechanism, but as genuine human connection. What emerged over the course of the winter was something that no operational budget line can fully capture: relationships, dignity, and the experience of being seen.”
Volunteer testimonies collected by the Salvation Army included:
- “There is something that happens when a person realizes they are not invisible. You can feel it in the room. The posture softens. The eyes lift. The conversation deepens. Even laughter returns.”
- “This is the power of this ministry to not only provide food, companionship and warmth to those in desperate need but to open the eyes and hearts of the privileged citizens of this city.”
In another testimony, a volunteer wrote: “Each visit the conversations got easier and the faces more familiar and through God’s grace the transformation was life-changing for me. It started with getting to know how their days went and if there was anything they needed, to sharing stories about their lives and them opening their hearts. At the end of the night some men were beating me to the ‘God bless yous’ and the smiles of gratitude for simple conversation and the snacks we were handing out.”
Those kind of connections highlight for Fr. McGee what the hope was nearly four years ago, when the parish first agreed to using the hall as an overnight warm-up location.
“The vision wasn’t that we would have an arm’s length ministry, where our engagement and partnership simply about entering into a lease agreement with the Salvation Army,” he says.
“To now have that spiritual presence there and, and that accompaniment offered by volunteers, is affirming that this has been a great partnership,” says St. Mary’s pastor. “We were always hoping that, that opening the hall as a warm-up centre would be something transformational for us as a parish, and would engage us in real ways. And indeed it has touched the hearts of many people.”
St. Mary Parish parochial vicar Fr. Isaac Atta Mensah blesses volunteers at St. Mary Parish, Saskatoon. (Photo courtesy of Mission and Outreach Facebook page)
Broad support
The volunteer base and donor response this past winter was huge and included parishioners and others from many corners of the diocese, he notes. “It has provided an opportunity to give witness, to what it means to put into action love of God and neighbor.”
McGee notes the impact goes beyond one small parish. “Having started three years ago with a ‘yes’ to the invitation to partner with the Salvation Army, and seeing how it has blossomed, I see great potential for growth, not only for St. Mary’s, with the leadership here, but also how this also becomes a great gift to the whole diocese.”
Outreach this summer has included a diocesan mission experience for young adults at St. Mary Parish, offered through the Saints Benedict and Scholastica Formation Program. Diocesan seminarian Huy Le, and Ian Lam of the Archdiocese of Vancouver, joined Verbum Dei Misisonaries Sr. Marta Piano, and Sr. Abala Sol in assisting with outreach and learning more about the ministry challenges and blessings.
Ian Lam of Saints Benedict and Scholastica Formation young adult mission team helping to serve pizza at St. Mary Parish this summer. (Photo courtesy of Mission and Outreach Facebook page)
Since the Mission and Outreach Ministry was established last year, many other parishes, individuals and organizations from across the diocese and beyond have also joined with the local parish community in its efforts, providing vital support and much-needed donations, says Nunes.
“Whether that was bringing in food or winter gear or blankets or so forth, it has been amazing — there was one week during the cold spell where we went through 801 blankets.”
Businesses, thrift stores, and other faith groups have all stepped up to help in the outreach ministry– as have Greater Saskatoon Catholic Schools, says Nunes.
The response of schools, students and their families has been a huge help, she notes. “It is so good, and it speaks to the importance of churches and schools working together for the common good.”
She emphasizes that without donations and community support, the parish outreach simply could not happen.
Ongoing ministry
The ministry has also broadened awareness about other needs, says St. Mary’s pastor.
“When you focus on ministry for any of those whom we are called to serve, it opens your eyes to not only that segment of our community, but other needs as well,” observes McGee. “I think it heightens our sensitivity and awareness about where the Lord is calling us to serve.”
“There are areas of ministry in our parish, needs among our own parishioners who may be a little bit on the margins as well. It becomes clear that this is not only how you do one ministry in one area, it is how you do ministry in all areas, through accompaniment and presence.”
It has also become increasingly clear that outreach is not needed only in one season, but throughout the year, says Nunes.
In reflecting on the past year, both pastor and coordinator express gratitude – to each other, to the parish community, to the volunteers, donors, partners, agencies, and to God.
“What has happened in this first year has been more than we could have imagined. It has been busy, emotional, challenging, grace-filled, fruitful, and truly life-changing,” says Nunes in an anniversary reflection.
“This ministry has taught us to see differently, listen more deeply, love more courageously, and recognize Christ in places many people do not want to look. It has reminded us that the poor are not a problem to solve — they are people to love.”
She adds in a recent interview: “I’ve never felt closer to God.”
Fr. Kevin McGee continues to stress that the work of Mission and Outreach Ministry is God’s work.
“It’s the work of the Holy Spirit, and, and as much as possible we want to show up for it,” says McGee. “And any good that comes out of it is always the work of the Holy Spirit.”
To learn more, to volunteer or to donate, see the ministry website at: www.stmarysoutreach.com or follow on Facebook at: LINK.
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Kiply Lukan Yaworski is the communications coordinator for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Saskatoon: rcdos.ca.
Communications and Catholic Saskatoon News are supported by gifts to the Bishop’s Annual Appeal: dscf.ca/baa.