By Alex McCuaig

First batch of meals to go out Dec. 14

40 Hot Meal Project feeding Hatters in need, helping local restaurants feed

Dec 13, 2020 | 10:05 AM

MEDICINE HAT, AB – The 40 Hot Meal Project will soon start to deliver on its pledge to feed Hatters in need.

It’s a remarkable turnaround for an initiative launched in the hours following Tuesday’s announcement the province would be going into a second COVID-19 lockdown.

The idea of The Hot Meal Project is to encourage local companies and individuals to donate $250 which in turn will go to provide local restaurants negatively impacted by the new restrictions some income in return for 40 prepared meals that will go to Hatters in need.

“It’s a program that helps so many people at a time of the year when people deserve the help,” organizer Torrey Mattson says in his Facebook post on Tuesday evening.

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By Friday, nearly $20,000 had been raised and the first batch of what promises to be hundreds of meals has been arranged to be delivered to the Medicine Hat and District Food Bank by Monday.

Mattson says the inspiration for launching the project came after Premier Jason Kenney announced the latest round of public health restrictions and realizing the impacts it will have on local restaurants as well as residents.

“If we were in any other community, this would be harder to launch and we might not even of tried it,” said Mattson. “But we’ve been around Medicine Hat long enough to know that people always step up and support each other and in times of need, there are always people to step in and give a helping hand.”

Mattson says they would like to keep the project going through the new restrictions and possibly longer.

Restaurants, businesses or residents looking to get involved can contact Mattson on The 40 Hot Meal Project Facebook page or through his office at the Remax Royal LePage building at 403-504-4821.