When Canadians went into the initial pandemic lockdown in March, many people were left looking for ways to connect with others and find an outlet for their creativity.
People around the world found it in the Ultimate Online Nova Scotia Kitchen Party Facebook page, which was created as an antidote to bad news at a time when people were at home under lockdown, feeling afraid and feeling disconnected from their friends and families.
Heather Thomson of Pictou, N.S., created the group to offer people some hope, she said.
“Everything was just negative, negative, negative, and it was just bringing me down and I was just feeling really sorry for myself my kids and everyone,” she said.
Wanting to spread some good, Thomson created the group and said within a few days it became an open house. The group now has more than 300,000 followers from around the globe.
“If you envision a cartoon back in the day with the snowball that starts this big and it just rolls and rolls as it goes down the hill, that is what like this like,” said Thomson.
Alex Quon, a Global News web producer, said the story came along at a time when people were looking for hope.
“This was obviously in the midst of the first real lockdowns across the country and so it wasn’t just Nova Scotians or people in Atlantic Canada, it was everyone from across Canada kind of pitching in and sharing something that would brighten people’s day,” said Quon.
Amateur musicians from across the globe started posting videos of their performances, including
people from all different backgrounds and cultures who became connected through the music.
“That story just kind of blew up, it went a lot farther than I thought it would,” said Quon.
The site, Thomson said, became a place for people to come together to support one another through the pandemic and they are still doing that today.
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