Arguably the most significant contribution by women to strikers’ efforts in the summer of 1919 was the opening of a food kitchen. About one week into the strike, the Women’s Labor League, led by Helen Armstrong, created a food kitchen in the Strathcona Restaurant in downtown Winnipeg (Kelly). Armstrong named it the Labour Café and it was extremely successful. The kitchen served 1200 to 1500 meals daily, all of which were free. The main priority of the Labour Café was to feed women strikers, however, they were willing to give meals to anyone in need. When serving men food, they asked for a donation of some sort. The Labour Café was crucial to the perseverance of women strikers because finding or affording food was difficult for some. A small portion of the Winnipeg population were widows due to the Great War and were completely reliant on only one income. Others had no money saved up, or had large families and were pressured by the number of mouths to feed. This drove some women to take part in scab work, which meant they had to cross the picket line. It is because the strike ended up only having a duration of six weeks that some women’s ability to purchase food and the availability of food did not become a serious matter.