Thanksgiving meals raise thousands for Farmers Helping Farmers

It's been a busy weekend for chef Emily Wells and her team at The Mill restaurant in New Glasgow.

From Friday until Sunday at 4 p.m., Wells prepared hundreds of Thanksgiving lunches in support ofFarmers Helping Farmers, a P.E.I.-based non-profit groupthat works with schools and women's groups in Kenya.

"I just think it's an amazing experience, you know. It ties everybody together over food," she said.

For $25, customers get a soup or salad, main courseand dessert from donated produce and preserves from Island farms and garden.

Plate by plate, the money has added up. More than $45,000 has been raised over the past 10 years, and the total is expected to surpass $50,000 this weekend.

I just think it's an amazing experience, you know. It ties everybody together over food. Chef Emily Wells

"It helps to sponsor education students from P.E.I. to go there, but it's used for projects at the schools," said Teresa Mellish, co-ordinator with Farmers Helping Farmers.

"It provides water tanks and books, and latrines and things that the schools need to function."

Wells said she hopes the tradition will continue for years to come, and that even more people will volunteer, including youth and newcomers.