Sydney coffeehouse, call centre honouring longtime friend and employee who passed away
SYDNEY — A much-loved Sydney call centre employee who died suddenly of a heart attack in March is being honoured by his favourite coffeeshop with a fundraiser for the Cape Breton Regional Hospital Foundation.
Doktor Luke’s coffeehouse is donating 50 cents from every iced coffee through to May 15 in the name of John Archibald Ardelli to aid the work of the hospital foundation.
James Walsh took over Doktor Luke’s a year ago but knew Ardelli as a customer for about four years.
He said Ardelli was a regular twice-a-day patron to the Bentinck Street spot during breaks in his workday, picking up his favourite drink, an iced coffee.
“We just thought it would be a nice way to honour him because he was such a valued customer and he really tried to spread the word about us as much as he could,” Walsh said.
Following the sudden closure of the ServiCom call centre in December, Ardelli still made pilgrimages for his daily dose of caffeine.
The coffeehouse is getting the word out about the fundraiser through social media but will likely place a sign at the front counter indicating how to contribute to their cause.
Walsh said patrons have been generous so far, with about 50 iced coffee sold in the first two days since the donation drive started on Wednesday. “We’ve even had people come in and just donate the money even though they weren’t getting an iced coffee.”
Cape Breton Regional Hospital Foundation fundraising and stewardship manager Rick McCarthy said the gesture from the coffeeshop is part of a “growing trend” of small businesses taking on their own fundraising initiatives for local charities.
“Nine times out of 10 it’s sharing that personal story that impacts people and motivates them to want to give toward your campaign,” he said.
McCarthy said he’s heard of at least eight local businesses in the past two months that have taken on a charitable cause for one reason or another.
Ardelli’s friendly, unassuming nature earned him respect at the call centre where he held a technical position syncing its internal data processing systems.
He was one of 16 of the original ServiCom call centre employees who were hired when it opened in 1999.
Ardelli, 46, returned to work in January when the operation resumed as The Sydney Call Centre Inc.
He died at work on the morning of March 15.
“We were all in total shock,” said Todd Riley, vice-president of The Sydney Call Centre Inc.
“It was probably the hardest day that a lot of us have had from a call centre, or even from a life in general, standpoint.”
To honour his memory, Riley said the call centre’s new eagle mascot is named “Archibald” and his workstation is adorned with a photo collage of Ardelli through his years at the centre.
Family and friends plan to gather to remember Ardelli at a service in Coxheath on June 1.