The holiday season, kicked off by Thanksgiving, is often a time to remember those who are less fortunate.

For Riverside Mission, that is their focus all year round, offering meals and an emergency men's shelter.

This year they will be having their big Thanksgiving meal on a Wednesday. Executive Director of the Mission, Scott Elger, explains why.

"We will be closed on Thanksgiving day this year. It's so our staff and volunteers get a rest and get to spend the day with their family. But we have provisions made for the 11th, where we'll have turkey dinner, dressing, pies, and so on."

This time of year brings in a lot of volunteers in to Riverside as they want to help the less fortunate. But Elger says there are other ways, and other time to help.

"The best way, especially for volunteers, is to look and see when you are available apart from the holidays. A lot of people want to help during the holidays and they want to introduce family members to serving others and so on. But it's not really Christmas that we need the volunteers, it's January. It's the rest of the year that we need to support those with year-round needs."

You can also support the Mission financially, as Elger said is constantly blown away by the support of the community. You can find out more by visiting their web page www.riversidemission.ca.