An extraordinary act of kindness in Fredericton is getting some well-deserved recognition thanks to social media.
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Brian Jones, a local investment advisor, recently organized a dinner at the Delta Fredericton hotel for about 50 current and former residents of Fredericton homeless shelters.
He partnered with the hotel to cater a full turkey meal for the guests on Nov. 19 and included a movie screening afterward. The guests were even shuttled to the event in a special party bus.
“I’ve been involved with some things before (charity work) and I just got this idea in my head,” Jones told Global News.
“You know you look at the news and a lot of it is negative and very depressing I just thought it would be nice to have some good news.”
The event was captured on video by local videographer Doug Sutherland and was posted on YouTube over the weekend.
The video, which encourages people to donate to the local shelters, has been widely shared since.
“It was a chance for our residents to have a relaxing way to spend the evening and get out and enjoy the town a little bit,” said Warren Maddox, executive director of Fredericton Homeless Shelters Inc.
“It was a fantastic evening for people that, under normal circumstances, could never dream of going to the Delta and having an incredibly good gourmet meal.”
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Jones says he and the other organizers have received nothing but positive responses.
He adds he also got something out of the experience.
“You go to Christmas parties sometimes and you see the same people there. This was a chance to meet some people with some pretty interesting stories,” he said.
“There was one man there from Haiti who lived through the earthquake. We had all walks of life there and all had interesting stories.”
With a file from Richard Dooley