WATCH ABOVE: The heat in the Maritimes is prompting some residents to help their neighbours stay cool. Global’s Alex Abdelwahab reports.
MONCTON – A small business owner in Moncton is helping strangers during the heat wave by leaving free, bottled water on her property for the taking.
Larissa Flanagan put out the bottles with a sign that reads “During the heatwave feel free to sit in the shade of this tree and have a bottle of water.”
She also laid out a water dish for pets. Flanagan hopes it will encourage other people to do similar acts of kindness.
“Yesterday, I went to check my mail and I noticed a man sitting here and I thought, ‘gosh it’s awfully warm,'” Flanagan said.
She said the man was sweating. So she grabbed him a drink and a frozen popsicle.
“I thought there’s got to be something that I can do to hopefully prevent someone else from getting to that point. So this was the solution.”
Flanagan is currently operating Close to the Heart Jewelry out of her home on Killam Drive, while on maternity leave. She has been able to monitor the water basket and refill it with fresh bottles from her freezer, as people take them.
She said the feedback has been really positive.
“Last night I was watering a plant on my porch and a man was walking by,” she said.
“He stopped and he said, ‘Wow, seriously? This is so awesome. Thank you, I was really thirsty.’ And that just made it all worth it.”
Flanagan added, she wished there were more public water fountains available in the city.
On Wednesday, James Squires and his 82-year-old mother, Mable, each took a bottle of water as they walked past the house. Squires said he thought Flanagan’s initiative was ‘really sweet,’ and especially helpful for people like his mother.
“It’s hard to get her to dress like younger people dress to cool off because she’s old fashioned,” he said. “It’s good for people like that too because they overheat quickly.”
Jason Surette, founder of Big Hearts, Small City, has been encouraging businesses in the downtown core to offer water and shade to homeless people through his social media channels.
“Sometimes the homeless people or people in need might not ask for a drink of water,” he told Global News. “But if you see someone outside of your business, they’re sitting there and they look hot, give them a glass of water. People can dehydrate really fast in this kind of heat.”
Surette said his organization handed out bottles of water downtown on Tuesday, but he would like to see businesses put up small signs in their window offering free tap water.
“Some people don’t like to come right out and ask for a drink of water,” he said. “That’s going to give somebody the courage to say I’m going to go get a drink because I’m really thirsty.”
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