With all the challenges of operating a soup kitchen, Dennis Chippa never imagined what he would have to deal with Thursday morning.
The Executive Director of the Gathering Place on Cassells Street in North Bay was in cleanup mode for much of Thursday as a client who received a meal that Chippa says a client was unhappy with, showed his frustration by launching a brick through the front window of the charitable facility.
The brick projectile smashed the front window and missed a couple of staff members by mere centimeters.
"Around 10:15 on Thursday morning, this occurred," noted Chippa.
"We close at 10 and we told him he was late but we actually gave him a meal, he wanted three but we said only one per person and the next thing we knew there was this brick through the window.
"He ate his breakfast and then threw the brick through our window."
Chippa says the thrown brick caused close to $1000 worth of damage to garden produce and to-go trays within the Gathering Place.
Chippa says they have provided a photo of the perpetrator to the North bay Police who are still investigating.
Then after dealing with the shock, Chippa and his staff scrambled to clean up so they would be able to remain open and serve lunch.
"Our top priority was to clean up, make sure it was safe, we put up some cardboard in the window and we were open to serve lunch within an hour. That is kind of how we roll, the bottom line is we have to feed people," said Chippa.
The next step was to get the window properly repaired. Northern Glass & Metal in North Bay was called to board up the window and give Chippa a repair quote.
On Friday morning Chippa got some very good news.
"They emailed me Friday morning after we put in the order and they said they will pay for it," said Chippa, noting that the cost would have been $3000 to $4000.
Mike Valenti, President of Northland Glass and Metal told BayToday they were more than happy to participate in the Gathering Place window repair.
“We know the positive impact the facility provides to North Bay with its dedication to reducing food insecurities and providing nutrition education. We’re grateful to the Gathering Place and know our city is relieved by its initiatives," said Valenti.
Chippa was thankful.
"It was incredible news on a Friday morning saying they will take care of this because they appreciate what we do," Chippa said about the window being fixed at no cost.
"It is covered by insurance but your rates may go up. So to have that kind of community spirit resulting from a horrible, horrible thing, is just amazing."
While incidents like this are frustrating to deal with, Chippa says they need focus on the good the facility does.
"For many in the non-for-profit world, this type of thing is not uncommon anymore and it's a small percentage of the population and we are focussing on the 98 per cent who we serve meals to and are supportive.
"We can't focus on the visible 2 per cent; those difficult people to work with."
Good will shines through after Gathering Place window vandalism - BayToday.ca
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