Answering the call: Winnipeg's Feast Caf to cook up meals for 500 storm evacuees

A Winnipeg restaurant closedits doors to the publicWednesday,in order to ensure evacuees from First Nations communities forced from their homes by this month's snowstorm can chow down onsome home cooking.

Christa Bruneau-Guenther, owner of Feast CafBistroa restaurant on Ellice Avenue thatspecializes in traditional Indigenousfood told CBC News that she was approached by theRed Crossabout three months ago.

They asked whether she'd be willing to provide her cooking skills to the Indigenous community in the event of a disaster, such asa flood or storm.

"I'd definitely be open to doing that," Bruneau-Guentherremembers tellingthem. "It's really important for us here at Feast to support our communities, but also to give them some of our traditional food made with our hands."

Asnowstorm of "unprecedented" magnitude hit the province on Oct. 10, forcingthousands of people to leave their homes in First Nations communities. Many came to Winnipeg with help from the Red Cross and nearlytwo weeks later, hundreds still haven't been able to go home.

On Tuesday, the Red Crosscalled Bruneau-Guenther,asking if Feast wouldbe able to cook and deliver food to 500 of those evacuees, for five days, starting Wednesday morning.

The restaurant has handled that sort of crowd before, but not all at once, every day,Bruneau-Guenthersaid.

"Basically we alljust said, 'OK, let's start this,'" she said.

The decision wasn't an entirely easy one, she added, noting that the restaurant had to close to the public Wednesday in order to handle the demand.

"But our people need some good healthy food, and they're displaced from their homes, and that's really important."

After hanging up the phone with Red Cross, Bruneau-Guenthercalled her food supplier to arrange food shipments, then created a menu.

Feast is ordering food every two days from its supplier, and its employees areworking12 or more hours per day.

"It's quite a process," she said.

The restaurant has supported other events in the past, but this is the first time Bruneau-Guentherhas donated her cooking to the Red Cross.

The Red Cross is funding this endeavour, but Bruneau-Guenthernoted that peoplestill have to be willing to put in long hoursto make it work. She praisedher team for willingly putting in that effort.

"If it wasn't for my team willing to support Feast and support thedecision, then we wouldn't be able to do it."