Community doesn’t let Grinch steal Christmas
“The response was great. I was very, very happy.” Justin Vallis Pathways to Employment
SYDNEY— The Grinch tried to steal Christmas from a non-profit organization, but the community wouldn't allow it.
After a utility trailer vital to their operation was stolen last week, Justin Vallis, general manager of Pathways to Employment in Sydney, said a local business purchased a new one to replace it.
“Safety Check Inspections Ltd. bought us a new trailer but said Cape Breton Trailer Sales had sold the trailer to them at cost, which was such a nice thing,” he said. “Together those two companies really came together and helped us out.”
Vallis said he arrived at work Wednesday to discover their utility trailer had been stolen. The theft would have occurred after 4:30 p.m. Tuesday into Wednesday morning.
Vallis said the trailer is a big part of their daily operations as it is used for everything from picking up donated wood used at their shop, to transporting lawn tractors for property maintenance, as well as deliveries.
As soon as a story on the theft was posted on the Cape Breton Post website Friday, he began getting calls from people wanting to help.
People called saying they were going to look at getting funding to buy them a new trailer and multiple people called wanting to loan them a trailer. In the meantime, Vallis also posted about the theft on his Facebook page and said the public helped share it.
“The response was great,” he said. “I was very, very happy.”
On Monday, Vallis said he received a call from Safety Check Inspections Ltd. in Sydney. Vallis was told they wanted to get Pathways to Employment a new trailer.
“She asked for the dimensions of the trailer and what we needed in it,” he said.
Within 15 minutes Vallis said Safety Check called back and said they had just purchased a new trailer for them.
At the end of the day, Vallis said they would have lost much work from the loss of the trailer.
Pathways to Employment is a not-for-profit social enterprise that offers people with mental illness meaningful, supported employment through their social businesses.
Vallis posted a thank you to the community on social media.
“We are a family here at Pathways to Employment,” he said. “A family that understands how stigma can absolutely crush an individual. It's very nice to know that we have an extended family that realizes we can only accomplish our goals by standing as one, and why community inclusion is necessary.”
Jennifer Fahey, one of the co-owners of Safety Check Inspections Ltd., said after learning of the theft they wanted to help because Pathways to Employment is a very deserving non-profit organization. Pathways is one of their clients. Safety Check does Occupational Health and Safety training.
“Pathways helps people with mental health and substance-abuse challenges,” she said, adding that one of their new programs is mental health first-aid training.
Fahey said at Safety Check they are very communityminded and it's the least they can do during these hard COVID times to help get eight people back to work.
“When we heard there were people out of work just from losing the trailer we decided to come on board and purchase one,” she said.
“They are a very deserving non-profit.”