Jacques Godin, who tragically passed away from a heart attack on Feb. 27, left his family and those at Bouffe Pontiac in utter shock and sadness after being found deceased in his apartment in Campbell’s Bay.

Having volunteered at the food bank for nearly eight years, Godin was a familiar face within the community and a pillar among Bouffe Pontiac’s core of volunteers.

“Everybody knew Jacques,” said Vera Mayor, a volunteer at Bouffe Pontiac spearheading the initiative. “Everybody that we’ve mentioned this to, their hand is in their pocket.”

Lacking the necessary funds to pay for his funeral, Godin’s family members were unfortunately forced to take out a $2,500 loan, to keep up with the costs of the funeral.

Upon hearing the news of the situation, Mayor along with other volunteers at Bouffe Pontiac felt she had to do something. After reaching out to the Godin family to ensure that they were on board with the plan, she gathered fellow volunteers and discussed the matter, before coming to the conclusion that a fundraiser was the right thing to do.

“When people don’t have the money to pay, it’s more than welcome for someone to step in and try to help,” said Mayor. “We don’t know if we’re gonna raise the whole amount. But we’re gonna do our very darn best to try.”

Helping the Godin family in their time of need was the least the community could do to soften the burden in the family’s time of grief, Mayor said.

“At this time, they don’t need a bunch of burdens on their hands,” said Mayor. “If somebody else can step in and help, I think it’s a good thing.”

Noella Demers, a volunteer at Bouffe Pontiac for the last two years, who was also Jacques’ neighbour in Campbell’s Bay, said she was surprised upon hearing about the passing of her friend and colleague. She added that his presence at the food bank won’t be easy to replace, considering everything he’s done for the charity organization.

“He helped a lot,” said Demers. “He was here every day for many years. He helped in the back, took out the garbage, he shoveled the snow if he had to. If there was something to fix, he’d fix it.”

Despite the tragedy that took place, Mayor believes it can give residents an opportunity to understand how important it is to support one another in the community and why they should contribute.

“In every community, everybody should help each other,” said Mayor. “I was brought up that way. When somebody is hurting, you hurt. I just feel it’s really important to do that. Not everybody can sit on their hands and do nothing.”

To give a donation, residents are advised to head directly to Bouffe Pontiac to pay in-person or to send money to the family’s newly created GoFundMe page.

According to Mayor, the main goal of the initiative is to pay back the debt and, if there’s anything left over, she’ll hopefully be able give back a little more to the family.

“I would personally like to take a bit of that money that would be left over and do a meal or something for the family,” said Mayor.

According to Jacques’ brother Jean-Claude Godin, a funeral service will take place on Grand Calumet Island, sometime in the spring.

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