The Westwood Pub has been raising donations for health care workers in Northern Health battling the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Pub owner, Nathan Coole was inspired by his previous employees experience working as a nurse in Prince George.
“She came into the pub a few weeks ago to get some takeout and was telling me how much they’re going through and how hard it is and it hit me pretty hard,” explained Coole.
He explained that during the first wave of the pandemic, lots of people were buying nurses and health care providers lunch.
According to Coole, that generosity seemed to die down a little once the second wave of the pandemic hit Prince George.
“One of my friends and I donated a bunch of Gift Cards to local frontline workers and then we challenged some of the other pubs in PG to do the same and generate as many gift certificates as possible,” he added.
Coole and Sunny Lally from Lally Electric teamed up and made the first donation of $5,000, they then challenged other local businesses to match their donation.
“We wanted to help all of the hospital staff, it’s not just the nurses in the ICU and all those departments that need the help, it’s cleaning staff, cooking staff and everyone else,” he explained.
A number of businesses contributed, and David Mathus with ‘Hell Ya PG’, helped get the word out together they ended up raising over $30,000 for front line health care workers in Northern Health.
“We needed the whole community to step in and they did, we helped with the first $5,000 and with all the different restaurants, fast food places and pizza places there has been just over $30,000 raised,” said Coole.
The Westwood hopes to make the final donation right before Christmas Day, however, donations can still be made through the ‘Hell Ya PG Facebook Page’ or gift cards can be purchased for health care workers at the Westwood.
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