An Open Letter to the Employees at a Small-Town Nova Scotia Grocery Store

This is an open letter to the staff at the Antigonish Superstore

Even though I live halfway across the country from you, you guys rock. And your story brought me to tears when I most needed to see the good in humanity. You see, I had just received news that my 93-year-old aunt who lives in a long-term care facility had tested postive for COVID-19 and my cousin, her son, had passed from cancer mere days before. There could be no funeral; gatherings were not allowed.

To you grocers, not only do you work tirelessly on the frontlines risking exposure to the dreaded coronavirus to keep people fed, but you, this particular team at the Antigonish Superstore, took the concept of paying it forward to a whole new level. Your actions also offered me some comfort on a rather bleak day.

I was first alerted to what happened at your small-town grocery store while watching the evening news. News—something when overconsumed can be very depressing these days. However, your story was anything but. For those who may have not heard of your heroic act, here it is in a nutshell:

The Story

Terra was working at the salad bar in the Antigonish Superstore, a grocery-and-more retailer, when she got the surprise of her life. Antigonish is a small Nova Scotia town, consisting mostly of well-known locals and students from the local university, St Francis of Xavier, or St of X for short. She did not recognize the man who handed her ten envelopes, but she wouldn’t soon forget his generosity.

“Can I help you, sir?” she asked.

“I just want to say thank you to the staff for working in these strange times,” he said as he handed over the envelopes, each bearing a hand-written message of gratitude.

A little taken aback, Terra asked, “Can I get your name?”

“I would like to remain anonymous. But these are for the workers here.” And with that, he did not stick around. He turned and scurried out the door.

Terra took the envelopes to the store manager, Patti.

“What's this?” Patti asked.

“A man came in and gave me these. I didn’t know who he was. I know a lot of people around here, but I couldn’t place him. He said to give these to the staff, and he said thank you for working during the coronavirus to keep us fed.”

“Thank you, Terra,” Patti replied and laid the envelopes on her desk, each one decorated with a personal message: Thank you . . . We are grateful . . . Thank you for everything . . .

Patti tore an envelope open and $40 cash fell out. Wow, she thought. We simply come in to do our job, what we normally do every day. For someone to recognize the value of what she and her colleagues were doing was pretty overwhelming. It was a feel-good moment she couldn’t ignore. She opened the next envelope, and again, $40 was inside. There was $400 cash in total. Patti took in a deep breath and blinked back the tears. It was obvious there still was good to be found in humanity.

The next day at the morning huddle—a staff meeting where she and her colleagues communicated about what would be going on that day, imparted information about sales, and talked about anything new—Patti shared the story of the envelopes.

“A man came in yesterday and gave these ten envelopes to Terra. He wouldn’t leave his name and he wanted to remain a mystery. Each envelope had a lovely gratitude message on it and $40 inside. I am looking for input on how we should distribute this very kind gift of appreciation,” she said as she looked out over the staff members. It was obvious they were taken aback at this beautiful gesture.

Corey piped up, “Why don’t we pay it forward? Maybe donate it to some seniors who could really use it for food?”

“Great idea,” Rob affirmed.

“Yes, let’s do that,” another colleague added. And soon the room was abuzz, people chiming in on how this would be the best use of the funds.

It was unanimous. The staff at Antigonish’s Superstore were going to donate increments of $100 to four seniors. Although fairly new as the manager at this particular location, Patti knew she had made the right choice to come here. She couldn’t help herself: she was proud of the decision this group of colleagues made to take a good situation and make it better. It was comforting to know that even though it was scary times, paying it forward wasn’t cancelled.

Patti's next step was to get in contact with a community liaison who could choose four deserving seniors, take their orders, and co-ordinate fulfilment. She had no trouble finding the perfect person for the job, and project pay-it-forward was put into motion.

My Gratitude

The truth is, we all depend on food. And those producing, transporting, and selling life-saving sustenance are, in fact, true superheroes in every single way.

So to all those working so hard to keep our nation fed, I salute you. And to those working at the Superstore in Antigonish, Nova Scotia, I thank you for not only feeding our bodies, but for feeding our souls, too.

With Gratitude,

H.

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This is episode 3 of the coronavirus chronicles: Canadian caremongers. If you enjoyed this story, consider reading episodes 1 & 2:

The Tooth Fairy Isn't Cancelled

40,000 Wedding Guests

Watch out for the upcoming book Not Cancelled: Canadian Caremongering in the Face of COVID-19.