“Look for the helpers”, Mr. Fred Rogers’ mother used to tell him when he would see scary things in the news, “you will always find people who are helping.”
Nova Mutual’s #WorkingTogetherMatters program has made it possible for us to meet so many of those helpers. Earlier this month, we reached out to our wonderful Broker partner, Lisa Vercillo at Magenta Insurance Professionals in London. Lisa is intently community-minded herself, so we knew she would have a worthy cause in mind that we could support in the London area. Immediately, she thought of Chelsea Green Children’s Centre which was selected by the Ontario Government to provide emergency childcare to essential front line staff. On April 2nd they opened their doors to do just that. “They did so with courage, grace, and a lot of hard work!”, Lisa told us. We couldn’t agree more.
It was then after we spoke with Tamara, the Executive Director of Chelsea Green Children’s Centre, that she asked us to help them improve the outdoor space for the kids. Since they work hard to get the children plenty of time outside, they were finding a great need for good quality equipment to make the fresh air time fun and engaging.
Tamara wrote to us and said, “You definitely made our week! Your timing has been perfect since we are 9 weeks into offering care and spirits have begun to lag a bit – we only expected to be doing this for a few weeks.”
We couldn’t help but notice that Tamara’s first instinct was to think of the many kids who attend the centre when we asked her how we could answer a need, and though we were quick to place an order for brand new picnic tables, playhouse, and a wagon, we still wanted to make the staff feel special, too.
We brought that idea to Lisa Vercillo, who recommended Magenta Insurance’s client/Nova Members, Wich is Wich, to provide a gorgeous catered luncheon to the team at Chelsea Green Children’s Centre. And so the ripples of awesomeness expanded further onward to a small business working very hard to stay afloat during the pandemic. Wich is Wich made it so simple to arrange for the catering drop off and put together a truly amazing luncheon for this deserving team of caregivers! Tamara told us, “It was a beautiful spread and tasted delicious! They set everything up so nicely and the staff was very excited with all the options in sandwiches, drinks, and desserts. The addition of salad and soup is wonderful!”
Wich is Wich are powering through and adapting in delicious ways to the new restaurant norms of today. These first few days of reopening have shown us that both restaurant staff and guests are realigning our expectations of the dining experience. “Everyone is learning together. Guests come in and you can tell they are just looking for guidance; they are so happy to be out and about again!” Cate, co-owner of Wich is Wich told us. “We’ve been so well supported by our neighbourhood. It has been so nice to converse with our customers, plate dishes again (not just in take-out containers)!”
The Wich is Wich patio at 731 Wellington Street, London, is open for physically-distant yet socially-enjoyable lunches, Brunch is back and you can even satisfy your late-night cravings by placing an order from their “Ghost Kitchen”.
#workingtogethermatters is all about acknowledging the specific needs of those groups impacted directly by COVID-19. It’s an absolute win-win when we can achieve that goal through supporting a small business like Wich is Wich.
Do U have a worthy group in your area rocking out in the face of COVID? We want to hear from U! Reach out to Nova’s Brand Officer, gfield@novamutual.com with your idea.
