Regina Chamber of Commerce Paragon Awards

Statement for Nomination of Chris Lygouriatis of Melrose Place North:

I could not forward a nomination without delivering some personal words of why I chose to nominate Chris. We first met Chris because his restaurant is so close to our campus! We bought this place three years ago and quickly became frequent visitors of Melrose Place! We loved the hospitality, the food, and the service.

One day, Melanie and I were paying for our dinner and he asked, “So, what are you doing this Thanksgiving?” We cheerily replied, “We’re feeding 500 people!”

Well, the rest is history! Since that day, Chris has fed nearly 3000 homeless men, women and children at his own expense. He has provided four course meals for Easter, Thanksgiving and Christmas to Regina’s poor and needy for two years in a row!

He has also gotten other chefs and restaurateurs involved in helping cook, finance, and serve the holiday dinners.

Until that time, we struggled along cooking the dinners ourselves, trying to do our best to give people a good meal. Because of Chris, we have been able to expand our dinners, invite more people, and truly give inner city families a community holiday dinner to remember.

Perhaps this doesn’t sound significant to you, but to those of us who work in the trenches, trying to make every donor dollar stretch, and seeing the devastation of poverty amongst women, children, single families, etc. it can be the difference between life and death.

And then there are those who struggle with life controlling problems such as addiction. Very often, that first meal is what leads people to choose a new life for themselves. We have many graduates of our recovery program who attribute their salvation and sobriety to a hot meal and someone who is compassionate and gracious towards them.

This Christmas, a small child came up to Chris. She was probably four years old. She looked up at him; he stooped over her. She smiled sweetly and said, “My mommy said to thank you for the meal. Thank you for the dinner. Merry Christmas!”

I think that says it all, don’t you?

Sincerely,

Michelle Porter