The Salvation Army had quite the family dinner on Easter Sunday. 

More than 600 people were served a free, warm Easter meal by volunteers and staff at the Salvation Army's Booth Centre in the Byward Market. 

Marc Provost, executive director of Salvation Army Ottawa, said the dinner offers an ideal opportunity to open the centre's doors to those in need in the city. 

“It’s like one extended family really. That’s how we look at them. Sometimes we know them fairly well and sometimes we don’t but that doesn’t really matter,” Mr. Provost. 

“We’re always happy to have people coming to us because they know they’re not alone.” 

He said the dinner serves as a great introduction to people who might need centre's help in the future. 

“It’s a good way to meet people for the first time who we might be able to help further,” he said. “We have a lot of services that people may not know about and this is a good way to help them.” 

Noon, 3:00 p.m. and 5:00 p.m. meals were offered to anyone in need and. Several chapel services were also provided.

“It was good, I got a cinnamon roll,” one man said with a smile on his face. 

Another man said it meant a lot to him to be able to come to the shelter to get a warm meal on the holiday. He said it’s the volunteers who make the dinner so enjoyable. 

“They’re taking time out of their family to give to us.” he said.

Robbins, K. (2015, April 5). Salvation Army serves up Easter dinner. Ottawa Sun. Retrieved from http://www.ottawasun.com