Centre 105 in Cornwall is celebrating the success of a summer cereal drive and giving special thanks to its friends and supporters from the Village Diner for their generous help feeding vulnerable people in the community.
When the Centre 105 launched the drive, the restaurant owners, who had helped with a water bottle drive in the spring that has kept the Centre supplied all summer, wrote on their Facebook page that they wanted to collect 100 boxes of cereal. But with the enthusiastic help of their customers, they collected 596 boxes.
Cindy Bartch, who co-owns the diner with Brenda Trotman, says the drive brought out the best in everyone. Because the diner was operating as take-out only during the COVID-19 lockdown, Bartch says they had plenty of room to start displaying the cereal boxes they were collecting as a drop-off location for the drive. “We had a house built…And anybody that came in to get take out would ask ‘What’s that?’ and then they’d bring some. It was amazing.”
Other local businesses got involved. “[The owner of] Green Acres Snow Removal came with 20 boxes and told us she was challenging other people. Then a roofing company brought some and Shiny Bud brought some. And it just went crazy. We were just flabbergasted. Our customers are just awesome…. Mike from Mike’s Mobile Pressure Washer, he came in with 50 boxes. And it doesn’t matter if it is 50 or one, it is the idea that they are just doing it.”
Once that mountain of cereal boxes was collected, customers also volunteered to help deliver it to Centre 105 in their trucks. “It took a few trucks to bring it over. The guy that helped bring it over came back and said, “Oh my God, I couldn’t believe it. There are kids sitting there with their parents waiting for this cereal.”
Bartch thought the kids would like what they saw. “People brought cereal that I’d never seen before, like blueberry Cheerios. I couldn’t believe all the different types, so these kids are going to freak out over it. It was really awesome cereal. People brought oatmeal and porridge.”
Centre 105’s program director Taylor Seguin told Crosstalk that the Centre had received another 150 boxes from other donors, so with the 596, from the Village Diner, they had a grand total of just under 750 boxes. “We were able to donate 50 boxes to each of the other food agencies in the city of Cornwall (The Agape Centre, Salvation Army Food Bank, and St. Vincent de Paul Food Bank).” He says the agencies in Cornwall work together co-operatively to support vulnerable individuals and families.
“The Village Diner is an incredibly strong and generous supporter of Centre 105 Drop-In Day Program,” said Seguin. “Their team donates 20 loaves of bread to Centre 105 every week and have been doing so since the beginning of the pandemic, in March of 2020. Although they are a small team, running a small restaurant during these difficult times, they still support their community.”
Bartch said they are happy to help Centre 105. “They feed anyone who is hungry. We think they are just awesome.” She added that they want to continue to help as long as they are able. “We’re in there like a dirty shirt,” she said with a hearty laugh.
Christ Church, Bells Corners — Deanery of West Ottawa