YES Wins Abraham Festival Hospitality Award

Every year, The Abraham Festival in Peterborough gives a Hospitality Award in recognition of groups or persons in Peterborough who show outstanding hospitality towards their community and beyond.

This year, the award went to YES.

The Abraham Festival takes place annually in Peterborough to celebrate Judaism, Christianity and Islam together as descendants of Abraham. It is coordinated by a grassroots group of community members who aim to build relationships between members of all three faiths, promote peace and dispel stereotypes. The 16th annual festival took place on Saturday, April 28th 2019.

When asked why YES was chosen to receive the award this year, the Festival Organizer Helen McCarthy said that YES “welcome(s) people no matter who they are or what their circumstance is, when they need us most, every single hour the day, every day of the year.”

All of the staff at YES are thrilled to be receiving this recognition. Last year, YES provided a bed and three meals a day to 250 individuals, as well as outreach and transitional programs to help divert and resolve youth homelessness. YES is open 24 hours per day and 365 days per year, ready to help youth and families in need.

“We are so proud of the work we do and service we provide to youth and families experiencing homelessness in our community. At YES, we have an extremely dedicated team and it truly nourishes our staff to receive this kind of acknowledgement,” says Meagan Hennekam, YES Executive Director.

Past recipients of the award have included the New Canadians Centre and St. John’s Anglican Church.