The Idea That Delivered 800 Meals To Canmore’s Healthcare Workers
The past several months have profoundly altered what we used to consider normal. With an endless stream of questions and no concrete answers, understanding our present reality has become nothing short of impossible. What can we do? How can we help? Who do we help? And what does that process even look like?
If you’ve been asking yourself these questions, you may be longing for some concrete information on how you can make a tangible contribution to your community and your society. Rob Jennings is a Canmore resident who found himself in that exact position.
With health orders sending a majority of the population indoors to work from home or wait this pandemic out behind closed doors, many individuals did not have that option. Namely, the front line workers who have been working tirelessly to protect the health and wellness of our communities.
In the spring of 2020, Jennings watched as people around the country erected signs and sounded off in celebration and support for our front liners. While he found the display of love and solidarity indescribably inspiring, he thought to himself “we’ve got to do more than that.”
Brenda Jeffery, Soulafa Al-Abbasi, Rob Jennings, and Barb Shellian with many grateful hospital staff!
“These people work so hard,” said Jennings. “Not just front-and-centre doctors that you see every day, but everyone from the people doing the laundry, the back office, to the surgeons.”
After he and his wife had successfully collaborated with a few local restaurants to buy nice dinners for a dozen or so local residents in need, Rob wanted to take his idea one step further and feed the people of the Canmore General Hospital, the people working to keep our community safe in circumstances that none of us ever could have imagined.
Rob partnered with the Canmore and Area Health Care Foundation (now the Canmore Hospital Foundation) and several locally-owned restaurants in an effort to provide the staff of the Canmore General Hospital with amazing meals as a tribute and an expression of gratitude for their hard work.
The program had a hefty goal of $15,000 and we are so proud to say that the goal was surpassed and a total of $16,251 was raised. Those funds will have provided over 800 meals to healthcare workers by December 31, 2020.
If your hands feel tied or you have no idea where to begin when it comes to giving back in these unforgiving times of need, the story of Rob’s idea that became a hugely successful and impactful fundraiser will suffice to provide the inspiration and information you may need. What began as an idea became a beautiful campaign that supported Canmore’s front line works and local restaurants simultaneously.
After finding success in his first meals program, he felt confident that he could pull off something larger, though he thought to himself “I can only do so many meals by myself, so why don’t I reach out to a bunch of my contacts that have relationships with Canmore and see if they’re interested in contributing.”
His initial plan was to raise enough for one lunch and one dinner. After an overwhelming amount of interest came pouring back, Jennings decided to contact the hospital directly to streamline the process.
Rob was connected with the hospital’s manager, Carol Duncan, who was just getting ready to retire. She didn’t hesitate for a moment, saying “we can absolutely do that” before pointing him in the direction of Soulafa Al-Abbasi, the foundation’s executive director. “She put me in touch with Soulafa and we worked out the details,” he said. “And the funds started coming in!”
Soulafa put the message out to the donors and supporters of the foundation as well as to the entire community. She shared the information on social media and even made an announcement on 106.5 Mountain FM.
“We were well above what my most optimistic budget was. We got a nice little pool of funds in the hospital foundation, tax receipts went out, and it was handled really well, even my donors commented how simple it was,” Jennings shared. He said that they had long surpassed what they needed for one lunch and one dinner, as he had originally planned for.
As for the food itself, Rob had gone around to local restaurants back in the spring. “Actually it was so much fun going to restaurants and saying that ‘I’m working on this program and we’re going to raise a bunch of funds to give front liners a free lunch and dinner. All you have to do is deliver it and by the way, I’m going to be paying you retail plus a tip’” he told us.
As a result of this remarkable program, Rob and the Foundation were able to give back to healthcare workers while supporting local businesses and, in turn, the entire community.
At this point, they’ve had their fourth lunch and dinner program and “there will be one at holiday time in December, and enough for one more early next year.”
Rob spoke to his experience with the Canmore General Hospital, more specifically the Foundation. He said the whole experience was “Very transparent, with ease in developing and putting through an idea.” He was also delighted with the willingness to not only accept his idea as he wanted but also support him every step of the way. “I became a small subset to the foundation so I was able to do what I wanted to do with the guidance and official accreditation of the foundation. It was carried through very well,” said Jennings.
“It was a pleasure working with Rob Jennings on the Staff Appreciation Meals Fundraiser,” said Soulafa. I am always inspired by community members who want to give back to our lovely mountain hospital. Rob had a great idea, took ownership of it, and worked with me to make it happen.” Soulafa also mentioned that most of the restaurants selected were businesses who had supported the hospital in the past through foundation fundraisers, etc. “It was our turn to return the favour in such tough times. A win-win for all: tax receipts for donors, business for restaurants, and paid meals for staff.”
Brenda Jeffery, Administrative Assistant at the Canmore Hospital who was helping with meals distribution, said “The staff love the lunches and REALLY look forward to them! I get the comments when I go on my morning walk around the hospital to let all staff know that its free lunch day.” She recounted. Brenda shared some of the exuberant comments she heard from staff:
“I’m soooo excited for lunch today as it hasn’t been a good week and I didn’t have time to make lunch today! Problem solved”
“Thank you Thank you Thank you!! I didn’t have time to get to the store for groceries and don’t have much for lunch!!”
“These lunches are such a treat as what I bring certainly does not compare…..they are sooooo yummy!”
This inspiring spirit of philanthropy and activism for his community is something that Rob grew up with on account of a wildly inspirational role model: his mother. “She was a really, really big believer in philanthropy and working to help others,” he said. “she was actually one of the first women in Canada to receive an order of Canada and she went to Hungary and brought back two young boys, they were cousins, to come live with us when I grew up out in Toronto,” Rob explained.
Beyond that, his mother started a press to make monthly newspapers in the languages of immigrants so they could understand what was going on locally in their language. “A little bit of that rubbed off on me,” Rob laughed.
Reflecting on the meals program thus far, Rob says that “the success goes to everyone who was involved, Soulafa from the Foundation, Brenda from the Hospital, restaurant owners, and, of course, donors who believed in the cause. A big, big part of it was the hospital and foundation’s willingness to really follow through with the purpose of the program.”
Rob used his time, drew upon his circles, and put his drive to give back into action through this amazing program.
Over $16,251 raised, over 800 meals provided, and an excellent example of the impact one person with a big idea can make.