When Brandon Nimigon was contemplating what to do with remaining stock after the purchase of Bernstein’s in downtown Haliburton, he reckoned a quick turnaround with proceeds going to charity was the way to go.
The sale generated $6,000 which has been split equally between: Brooksong Retreat and Cancer Support Centre, Central Food Network, 4Cs, SIRCH, Snowflake Meadows, and Minden Community Food Centre.
Nimigon said, “it just didn’t make a lot of sense for us to spend months selling it. We thought we could instead do something good for the community, give to charities, and people who need it.”
Representatives of some of the charities had a look at renovations of the building April 10. They were thankful of the support.
Nicole Baxter, a director for Central Food Network, said, “after a winter that continued to see calls for service break more records, we are grateful to Brandon for this support for us and other worthy charities. When local folks like Brandon step up like this, the impact is immediate and real for our neighbours throughout Haliburton County.”
Laurie McCaig of SIRCH tipped her hat to the Nimigons for their “thoughtful and generous donation. It means a great deal to know you chose to support local non-profits in this way. The monetary gift will help support our Community Kitchen Program, where 1,750 meals are prepared each month and shared through 14 local partners. We also received a large donation of quality clothing and shoes, which will be made available through our Thrift Warehouse in Haliburton; helping extend that generosity even further within the community.”
4Cs is the Haliburton Food Bank, and Lily Ann Thrift Store. They sell donated items to raise funds for food distribution. The food bank also accepts cash donations. Louise Ewing said, in addition to the money, Nimigon donated clothing and shoes to the Lily Ann, “which will be an immense help to our clients and customers.”
Brooksong executive-director Barb SmithMorrison also expressed gratitude saying, “this donation is so timely and will support the launch of our new local cancer support circle, co-created with local residents and Haliburton Highlands Health Services. This will be a facilitated, compassionate space where people can be with others who understand, share and listen, and experience gentle ways to support their wellbeing.”
Renovation update
Nimigon said the renovations are going well, although the demolition is taking much longer than anticipated. They are going through a lot of removal bins. They have taken it back to the studs.
He said former museum employee Steve Hill spent some quality time in the attic. “We found a lot of cool stuff: an old building permit from 1973; and you can see how easy it was to get permits back in the day. They wrote down ‘we’re doing this, this, and this’ and it was approved, that was it; old comic books and hockey cards from the 70s, wartime clothing from the early 1900s.”
Nimigon thinks it will take a few months to get the work done.
