A London, Ont. man is giving back to first responders by supporting initiatives introduced by another generous Londoner amid the COVID-19 outbreak.
Brad Heslop, the owner of the Early Riser Cafe in north London says he received a call on Thursday from a man named Rick Slee.
May 1st is coincidentally National First Responders Day, as well as National Physicians’ Day in Canada.
In mid-April, Heslop began a series of initiatives at his restaurant to support local first responders and front line workers.
He is currently still offering them free beverages, and providing them with washroom access.
Get daily National news
Heslop also began to donate “… 10 per cent of every take-out order and 100 per cent of tips directly to the London Food Bank.”
When Slee, who is 69 years of age and retired discovered Heslop’s generosity through a post on Facebook, “I thought to myself, ‘man, he is doing a lot! I should be able to help somehow.'”
“My sister had convinced me to go on my first ever cruise next winter, so I was putting some money aside in the savings every month, Slee told Jess Brady on the Afternoon Show.
“I gave him a call and explained to him what I was willing to do, and he was so happy.”
Prior to the start of this initiative, Slee consistently showed his appreciation and support for front-line workers and first responders, but he wanted to do more.
“For a while, I’ve been bringing coffee, donuts, chocolates to the hospitals, but I was thinking last night… there’s the police, the fire department, ambulance drivers… they’re in stressful situations and I think if we could do anything to help them out, that’d be great.”
Slee says he’s hoping other community members, including restaurants will soon follow Heslop’s lead.
“$10, $100, whatever people can afford, sent it to Brad and he’ll put it to good use.”
For Heslop, donations from tips and take-out orders has just reached $1,000 Friday.
“It’s just really nice to see the community come together!”
Heslop is asking first responders interested in getting a free meal to wear their uniform, or present a form of I.D.
“We’re not going to be screening people too hard on this, so just give us a call, we’ll set up an order over the phone, and I’ll bring it out to them whenever it’s ready.”
Through this initiative, Heslop and Slee have formed a tight connection despite never meeting or speaking to each other prior.
“I look forward to keeping that relationship going with him; he’s a great guy,” said Heslop.
Comments