Wendy Trueit knows what it’s like to lose a child.
In the hours after the mass shooting in her community of Tumbler Ridge, she knew she had to do something. As a cook and co-owner of a local restaurant, Twisted Seasons Bistro, she started providing free meals to first responders and families of the victims.
Before she knew it, word got around.
“We’ve had people from the U.S., Connecticut, where they’ve had mass shootings there that reached out, ‘What can we do to help?’ and we’re like, ‘I don’t know, you can pre-pay for food for people, that would work,’” Trueit said.
“Canada, Europe, it’s been everywhere all over.”
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She estimates they’ve received thousands of dollars from hundreds of people around the world, all of it going toward feeding healthcare workers, paramedics, police officers, and firefighters, as well as those currently grieving loved ones.
“I never planned to have people send me money to help feed the people; I wasn’t concerned about that, that’s just what I can do, so yeah, that caught me off guard,” she said.
This is just one of the countless ways the community has been receiving support from people who are, essentially, strangers.
Fort St. John resident Ted Ember says he recently made the two-hour drive to Tumbler Ridge to drop off what was supposed to be just a few bouquets of flowers from him, his coworkers, and his friends.
“I started picking up flowers. I let the lady know that I’m buying some flowers and going down to deliver on behalf of coworkers and friends, and next thing you know, there are strangers buying flowers,” Ember said.
“We just thought it would be a nice gesture to show Tumbler Ridge that people care.”
There are also GoFundMe pages for the victims, which, combined, have raised well over a million dollars.
Trueit says she will continue to provide free meals for as long as the community needs it, and that includes the first day Tumbler Ridge Secondary students and staff return to class.
As well, she says, a school in Vancouver has offered to cover the cost of meals for everyone.
“I was a little shy on that one. I was like, ‘I don’t know if we can handle that,’” she said.
“Northern Health happened to be here, and they said, ‘We can make that happen, we can get a crew together, chefs, whatever you need,’ so we just accepted that challenge.”
For some, the kindness of strangers has been a light, however small, in an otherwise dark week.
“It definitely makes you look at the positive in the world,” Trueit said.
Tumbler Ridge has been receiving love and support from around the world following a deadly mass shooting at a school Feb. 10. Canada
Wendy Trueit knows what it’s like to lose a child.
In the hours after the mass shooting in her community of Tumbler Ridge, she knew she had to do something. As a cook and co-owner of a local restaurant, Twisted Seasons Bistro, she started providing free meals to first responders and families of the victims.
Before she knew it, word got around.
“We’ve had people from the U.S., Connecticut, where they’ve had mass shootings there that reached out, ‘What can we do to help?’ and we’re like, ‘I don’t know, you can pre-pay for food for people, that would work,’” Trueit said.
“Canada, Europe, it’s been everywhere all over.”
3 items
She estimates they’ve received thousands of dollars from hundreds of people around the world, all of it going toward feeding healthcare workers, paramedics, police officers, and firefighters, as well as those currently grieving loved ones.
“I never planned to have people send me money to help feed the people; I wasn’t concerned about that, that’s just what I can do, so yeah, that caught me off guard,” she said.
This is just one of the countless ways the community has been receiving support from people who are, essentially, strangers.
Fort St. John resident Ted Ember says he recently made the two-hour drive to Tumbler Ridge to drop off what was supposed to be just a few bouquets of flowers from him, his coworkers, and his friends.
“I started picking up flowers. I let the lady know that I’m buying some flowers and going down to deliver on behalf of coworkers and friends, and next thing you know, there are strangers buying flowers,” Ember said.
“We just thought it would be a nice gesture to show Tumbler Ridge that people care.”
There are also GoFundMe pages for the victims, which, combined, have raised well over a million dollars.
Trueit says she will continue to provide free meals for as long as the community needs it, and that includes the first day Tumbler Ridge Secondary students and staff return to class.
As well, she says, a school in Vancouver has offered to cover the cost of meals for everyone.
“I was a little shy on that one. I was like, ‘I don’t know if we can handle that,’” she said.
“Northern Health happened to be here, and they said, ‘We can make that happen, we can get a crew together, chefs, whatever you need,’ so we just accepted that challenge.”
For some, the kindness of strangers has been a light, however small, in an otherwise dark week.
“It definitely makes you look at the positive in the world,” Trueit said.