Skip to content

Take-out support keeping local camp's kitchen staff employed

'Because we can’t have camp, we’ve had to pivot into offering take-out as a way to stay alive. It’s desperate times,' says YLCC chef
Orillia YLCC Kitchen
Youth Leadership Camps of Canada on Moon Point Drive has been offering take-out during the pandemic. Chef Jennifer Alton, front, is shown with camp dining staff, from left: Andrew Bailey, David Ryckman, and Emma Dunn.

The Youth Leadership Camps of Canada on Moon Point Drive has been closed since October of 2019 due to the pandemic, but their kitchen is remaining open to provide curbside pickup and take-out for the community.

“Because we can’t have camp, we’ve had to pivot into offering take-out as a way to stay alive,” said head chef Jennifer Alton.

“It’s desperate times, and this is all we can do to give it one more try.”

The kitchen has been open Thursdays through Sundays for lunch and dinner for those who order ahead online

Some of the most popular menu items for take-out have been jerk chicken, rice and peas, and Jamaican patties.

“I have a West Indian background so those are our number one sellers. I’m actually shocked with how popular they are,” Alton said.

“We are in an area where people have homes on the lake, but also people from Orillia and Barrie have come to support us. We hope that when the stay-at-home order is lifted, we will get even more people," Alton said.

The camp’s kitchen is putting in its best effort to make restaurant-quality food and unique menu items, she noted.

“We are trying to do everything really nice; we make our own hamburger buns, we make our own cocoa bread, we had a slider special on the weekend, and all of our desserts and pies are made in house,” Alton said.

Money raised from each take-out order is going toward keeping local people employed, Alton says.

“This is helping keep myself, another chef, a student from Lakehead, and a dishwasher employed,” she explained.

“It’s creating employment for the four of us for sure, and hopefully it puts some profit into the camp for admin staff and our day camp staff.”

Alton is hopeful that campers will be able to return to camp later this summer, but even with premier Doug Ford promising summer camps they would be able to reopen by July 3, she isn’t 100 percent confident it’s going to happen.

“Personally, I think he’s wishing out loud. His Health Table still hasn’t put anything together for a re-opening plan, we haven’t gotten anything yet,” she said.

“You can’t open a camp with three weeks’ notice, that’s why we have staff that works all year, and YLCC just recently announced that we won’t be doing overnight camp this summer. We just don’t have the protocols or information to do it safely,” she said.

To see some of the menu items at the YLCC kitchen, click here


Comments

Verified reader

If you would like to apply to become a verified commenter, please fill out this form.




Tyler Evans

About the Author: Tyler Evans

Tyler Evans got his start in the news business when he was just 15-years-old and now serves as a video producer and reporter with OrilliaMatters
Read more