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www.insideHALTON.com | OAKVILLE BEAVER | Thursday, December 3, 2015 | 14 Donation heats up holidays at Lighthouse shelter by Julia Le Oakville Beaver Staff Serving up a hot meal almost twice a day, seven days a week, for 38 people can be challenging all on its own. But add the limitations of a worn-down stove with a burner that doesn't work and a broken oven door and you've got the situation Salvation Army's Lighthouse Shelter chef has had to endure in the last year. Leslie Lopes, who has been working at the homeless shelter ever since it opened 10 years ago in Oakville, describes how he had to get creative when he was making meals. Noting the stove came second-hand to the shelter 10 years ago, he said the numbers on the knobs had disintegrated over the years and the ignitor had stopped working long ago. On its last legs, the broken oven door had to be jammed shut with aluminum foil while it was in use. Those days, however, are now behind him thanks to a recent donation made by the Rotary Club of Oakville Trafalgar. After hearing of the shelter's situation and sending a club member to see the worn-out cooker, the local service club helped fund the purchase of a six-burner stove with two ovens. Just before a special dinner service last month to celebrate the new appliance, Lopes explained how grateful he and the shelter are for Rotary's The Salvation Army of Oakville, with support from the Rotary Club of Oakville-Trafalgar and the Tomato Ladies, has a new industrial-sized stove/oven for the kitchen of its Lighthouse shelter. The homeless shelter serves meals to 40 people, three times a day. Pictured here, kitchen worker Leslie Lopes pulls a tray from one of the ovens as, from left, Sally McFadyen (Tomato Ladies), Jennifer Estall (Rotary Club of Oakville-Trafalgar) and Jan Little (Tomato Ladies) look on. | photo by Graham Paine ­ Oakville Beaver (Follow on Twitter @halton_photog or facebook.com/HaltonPhotog) generous donation. "With a new oven now, it's easier to clean," he said, adding cooking meals is faster now. Helping prepare the celebratory dinner that evening were the Tomato Ladies, a group of Oakville volunteers who played an integral role in connecting the Rotary Club with the Lighthouse Shelter. On the menu were appetizers, a salad bar, chicken cacciatore with spaghetti and apple cranberry crisp with vanilla ice cream -- all made from scratch. Sally McFadyen, one of eight Tomato Ladies, said the group has been volunteering at local food banks and emergency shelters like Lighthouse for the past five years. The women drop by the Lighthouse every few weeks teaching residents how to create nutritious and tasty meals with basic ingredients. Every couple of months, they also host dinner parties at the shelter, laying out tablecloths and cutlery and making it a warm and inviting experience for those staying at the shelter. Each dinner guest also receives a gift of necessities such as socks and toiletries, which are provided to them by the Rotary Club, added McFadyen. Describing what prompted the Tomato Ladies to connect the Rotary Club with the Lighthouse shelter, she said they knew first-hand how see Letting on p.15 WITH YOUR $150 PANDORA PURCHASE* BRAMALEA CITY CENTRE 905.792.8820 SQUARE ONE SHOPPING CENTRE 905.232.0661 MAPLEVIEW CENTRE 905.632.5400 ERIN MILLS TOWN CENTRE 905.828.5902 *In store only. While supplies last, limit one per customer. Prices before taxes. Valid only at participating PANDORA retailers. Void where prohibited. Not valid with prior purchase. Ornament gift box included. Not valid with gift card purchase. Some jewelry displayed patented (US Pat. No. 7,007,507) · © 2015 Pandora Jewelry, LLC · All rights reserved · PANDORA.NET free ornament AVAILABLE STARTING DECEMBER 1ST