A queue of 74 hungry people — seniors leaning on walkers, mothers with babies in strollers, young adults, the homeless — snakes through the muggy ground floor at 4100 Lawrence Ave. E.They’d lined up outside the apartment building under a baking summer sun for a free lunch. For some, it could be their only meal of the day.5n2 Kitchens, a volunteer-run Scarborough charity founded six years ago by former Dubai-based high school teacher Seema David, provides the lunches, offered on Wednesdays. Once stomachs are filled, many of the same folks line up again for the Scarborough Centre for Healthy Communities’ food bank across the hall.“To me, feeding the hungry is close to God’s heart,” said David, 55, who lives in east Scarborough with her family. “I’m doing something that is meeting such a basic need.”The charity’s name, 5n2 Kitchens, refers to the biblical narrative of Jesus feeding a crowd with five loaves of bread and two fish, she said.The kitchen is in an industrial unit at Markham and Ellesmere Rds. There, David and her volunteers transform “rescue items” — such as unused breads, produce, protein and dairy products — from Second Harvest and businesses such as Starbucks and No Frills into wholesome meals. She relies on financial donations from the public and private sectors and promotes the service at community events. For instance, David paid for a vendor’s table at Scarborough Ribfest during the August long weekend at Thomson Memorial Park “to create awareness for what we do.”5n2 Kitchens operates seven days a week. David’s volunteers cook and serve more than 1,200 fresh meals each week to nine groups, including seniors, children and the homeless. The charity may soon expand to a 10th group — a local school has requested help to feed its low-income students.Scarborough-Guildwood Councillor Paul Ainslie is a champion of David and her charity b ...
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