With hundreds of residents affected by the record-setting 2019 floods, various local businesses put their best foot forward by chipping in to contribute to the cause by giving out numerous donations to volunteers and victims.

From food to tooth brushes and medical kits, volunteers and victims throughout the region were delighted to see that businesses in the Pontiac were thinking about them in their time of need.

Among the local pharmacies and restaurants was Billy T’s pizza in Shawville who rolled out their food truck to various locations in the Pontiac to dish out hundreds of delicious pizzas to local volunteers.

According to Billy T’s employee Brody Telford the idea to donate pizza’s to volunteers arose after seeing countless posts, pictures and videos on Facebook of people filling sandbags in various municipalities.

“[Bill] just called me up and said ‘I think we should go down and try and help,’” said Brody.

Having originally planned to only make a stop at the municipal sandpit in Mansfield, the Telford’s decided it was important to keep up the benevolence for as long as the volunteers needed, considering how many of them benefited from their donations.

With stops in three different locations, including Mansfield, Norway Bay and Quyon, Billy T’s served around 120 volunteers in each location, according to owner Bill Telford.

The sheer number of food donations from various Pontiac enterprises was astounding to the point where he had to call each municipality in advance to make sure the volunteers could accommodate his food truck, Bill said.

“We had to phone ahead,” said Bill. “They had so much food coming in that you kind of had to book when you were going to be there because they didn’t want everything overlapping.”

But all in all, the volunteers seemed very happy with the presence of free hot and ready pizzas for them feast on.

“We just went down there set up, fed them and left,” he said. “The response from the volunteers was overwhelming.”

The initiative, although a generous one, was a no-brainer considering the fact that the flood victims and volunteers are not only Billy T’s customers, but they’re friends and neighbours.

“It’s not just random people we’re helping out,” said Brody. “These are out customers, our friends, our family. It wasn’t really that big of a deal to us. We were just happy to be able to do something.”

According to Bill, residents have approached him with very positive comments ever since lending a helping hand. For example, after returning from Norway Bay, one elderly woman confronted him at his restaurant and gave him $100 dollars stating that she was physically unable to fill sandbags but wanted to help out in any way she could.

“I’ve been here for 30 years, he said. “And this community has always been great to me.”

Another local business showing its benevolence to the community during this year’s flood season was the Pontiac Home Bakery in Shawville who donated countless loaves of bread, buns and desserts to volunteers all over the region.

From boxes of fresh doughnuts to hot thermoses of coffee for the volunteers, the bakery’s owner Dan Duggan said he wanted to ensure his customers, friends and neighbors knew they were important to his businesses and that giving back in their time of suffering is the least he could do.

“These are all customers of ours,” he said. “Without them coming through our doors, we don’t exist. So, if we can’t give back in a time of need there’s something wrong. It’s not about the money in your pockets. It is about the people.”

Ever since making their own donations, countless people from all over the Pontiac have donated sums of money to the bakery, which they used to purchase numerous cases of water for evacuation shelters.

According to Duggan, the bakery teamed up with local pharmacy Uniprix Sante Ahmad Hassan to put together health care packages containing tooth brushes for evacuated residents in Mansfield.

Hoping to help as many victims as possible, the two businesses matched dollar for dollar, effectively doubling the number of hygienic products donated to the Red Cross situated in various locations across the region, including at L’École secondaire Sieur de Coulonge (ESSC) in Mansfield, Duggan says.

“We’re just trying to help out whenever we can,” said Duggan. “People were removed from their houses without any notice, not able to take stuff with them.”

The volunteers at the ESSC were delighted upon receiving the care packages saying it was “like Christmas”, according to Duggan who arrived at the school with a car load of food, water bottles and hygenic kits.

“Just go onto our Facebook page and it’s self-explanatory,” he said. “The comments from people, the thank yous and everything. The Mayor of Fort-Coulonge sent me message yesterday. If you go into the commentary, you’ll see it.”

Duggan was thankful for Ahmad Hassan and his staff for their help and generosity. He adamantly stated that his donations were purely intended to help out residents.

As a small business owner, Duggan felt humbled to be in a position where he can offer his fellow residents some kind of support in their period of struggle

“You have to be able to lean somewhere,” he said. “A lot of times it takes a long time for big businesses to get the okay to do things. But when you own your own business and you have resources that you can hand out and make a difference immediately, it’s humbling.”

“You don’t do it for the recognition – that’s the last thing,” he continued. “You do it because you’re human and you could just imagine what would happen if you’d be in that situation.”

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