What is the Out of the Cold Program?

St. Patrick’s Out of the Cold program has been running for more than 30 years now and prior to the pandemic, regularly served meals to about 250 people and offered overnight shelter for 80 people. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the loss of funding from the City of Toronto for floor security, we have not been serving dinner and providing accommodations to our guests at St. Patrick’s for the past few years.

Instead, to help as many homeless guests and people facing food insecurity as possible, we have been preparing meals at St. Patrick’s which will then be served at other agencies.

This year’s Out of the Cold Program begins on the weekend of November 16th & 17th, 2024.  For 20 weeks, our volunteers will be preparing meals each week for 600 people in need. Once again we are partnering with two agencies (Good Shepherd Ministries on Queen Street East & the St. Felix Centre on Fraser Avenue) who will serve the meals at their locations, by local staff. The Out of the Cold Program is run by committed volunteers and relies on donations from individuals and businesses. This year, local experts say one in 10 Toronto residents now rely on food banks to get through the month.

For more information, please contact the parish (416-598-3269) or email ootc@stpatrickstoronto.ca.

To support the Out of the Cold Program, please click here.