St. Catharines restaurant prepares thousands of meals to those in need

Giving to those in need is a holiday tradition one business owner in St. Catharines is hoping to pass along to his children.

Joe Fetta Greek Village is a local restaurant that’s been in business for over 35 years, and on New Years Eve, kitchen staff along with volunteers, are hard at work preparing a thousand meals for Niagara’s homeless.

“It is a blessing because fortunately some of us have something to eat and some don’t, and if you can do that, please with all your heart don’t hesitate,” says one employee.

Pierre Kountouris is the owner of Joe Feta’s Greek Village in St. Catharines, he says it’s a family tradition to help out those who are less fortunate.

“It’s just one more thing we can do, one small thing we can do for our community,” says Kountouris.

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Four years ago the restaurant started prepping meals to be handed out on Christmas Day, but moved up the date because they noticed no one else was doing it on New Years Day.

Originally just a couple hundred meals were handed out, but the need has grown. This year they will be feeding a thousand people living out on the streets.

Kountouris says this is not only about giving back but also a tradition he wants to pass down to his nieces and nephews.

“We were taught at a young age to give back to our community, be part of our community, and this is just one more thing that we do,” Kountouris says.

The restaurant works with local organizations and volunteers to hand deliver the meals.

“They smile, they say thank you, I usually start with are you guys hungry – ya we are hungry, and we just give them a hot meal,” says volunteer Rob Hubbert.

The owners along with dozens of volunteers will be back on Jan 1., at 7 a.m. to start packaging up the meals in St. Catharines.

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