Town Crier stories have been even more fun to tell since we shifted our mode of operation to community causes. We are really starting to stack up some great adventures working with so many fantastic local leaders including:
- Easter Dinner to our local hospital heroes https://hive.blog/marketing/@town-crier/of-community-and-unity-delivering-meals-to-heroes
- Humane Society Lunch Delivery https://hive.blog/marketing/@town-crier/joining-forces-to-recognize-vital-community-members
- Animal Hospital Complementary Catering - https://hive.blog/marketing/@town-crier/business-leaders-helping-businesses-helping-people
Today, we dive into the first chapter of an even larger project with equal parts front line worker support, restaurant resilience, and even more business leaders stepping up to help their community!
This story was a week in the making but came together brilliantly on Friday April 24th. What makes this initiative extra special to us is that we were able to brighten the day of a whole team of passionate professionals who are literally battling for the lives of their residents. In the image above, we have the local restaurants who stepped up huge and combined to provide over 60 meals for the team at one of our long term care facilities during this intense time.
Greenwood Court https://www.tcmhomes.com/greenwood-about.php is a storied retirement residence that is much better described as a "Community of Care." The minds of many have been dwelling on long-term care facilities when considering how Covid-19 would impact our lives. It is known as a beautiful community of much-loved family members who are also in perhaps the most danger when it comes to a virus like this.
Greenwood has felt the brunt of the pandemic with stories of cases and fatalities being covered by local and national news https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/kitchener-waterloo/stratford-greenwood-court-covid-19-death-1.5530334 Our blogging partner @zekepickleman summed it up best in a conversation with one of his little ones in the car on the way to delivering the meals. "Imagine how strong and caring a person you have to be to dedicate yourself to a career helping people age in place and create a home for them all. Then, think of how you would feel knowing that a particularly lethal virus had been contracted by the people you care for every day, putting everyone's health in real danger. These are exceptionally trying times and the least we can do is provide dinner in an effort to brighten the end of a very long week."
The Delivery!
We were able to roll a small caravan of volunteers to Greenwood after picking up the meals from each of the restaurants across town. Executive Director Joyce Penney had staff and carts ready at the front door for safe loading. The volunteers included Town Crier's newest partner @zekepickleman, Tracey Medhurst of https://whatshappeningstratford.com fame, and Ryan from https://blackswanbrewing.ca/ for the trifecta of awesome. Tracey took time away from birthday celebration and Black Swan Brewing has a special chapter in this story we will get to. When things get back to patio time, these might be the people you will enjoy having at your table.
Especially-rewarding was having one of the health care workers end her long shift and ask if she was allowed to take one to go. We told her to have her pick, then made sure she added a healthy salad and recommended the lemon meringue pie for dessert!
A delivery train formed as a quick solution to handle 4 carts transporting 3-course meals along with 6 litres of hand sanitizer from the local distillery. Junction 56 https://www.junction56.ca/ also has a nice part in this story and will have its own chapter as we continue to drop spoilers yet focus on the delivery for this one.
The smiles cannot be masked and the appreciation seems to flow both ways in the short, distanced connection as we complete our delivery.
We have yarns to spin about each of the wonderful restaurants who supplied the meals and the business sponsors who jumped in to help finance this project.
The dedicated and passionate caregivers at our long-term care facilities are another priceless group healthcare professionals who deserve so much of our appreciation and support. It seems such a small thing for us to deliver one meal after they have put in another long 40+ hour week. So, we may have to keep at it.
The restaurants unanimously convey a sincere thank you and, this time, they are coming from:
- Revival House https://www.revival.house/
- Taverna Pazzo Pizzeria https://www.pazzo.ca/
- Demetre's Family Eatery https://www.demetresfamilyeatery.com/
- Fellini's Classic Italian Cucina http://www.fellinisstratford.com/
We cannot wait to get into the sponsors and stories behind these restaurants who seriously need your support to survive now, and thrive later. It was our pleasure to be able to come together and deliver a little tasty sunshine to your day and we are here to help in any way we can.
STAY TUNED for restaurant and community leader spotlights the next couple days!
It is difficult to put into words how fulfilling it is to play a small part in supporting community heroes. All we can do is be thankful for being involved and hope it inspires you to get active in your community when it needs you the most.
Sincerely, contact us at [email protected] or at https://www.facebook.com/towncriermarketingcanada/ if we can help you do something like this for your community. Our pleasure.
Thank you for your business support, following our story and sharing in those we tell of our clients. Feel free to create a blog for your business https://signup.hive.io/ and ask us how to leverage it towards success.
