Local business owners are stepping up to the plate to help those who are suffering the most from the provincewide stay-at-home order.
Jordan Rossman, a real estate agent with The Rossman Team, has created an online contest called the #EpicRestaurantGiveAway, which is designed to help struggling local businesses.
Using their Instagram account, The Rossman Team is giving away five $100 gift cards for a local restaurant to a member of the community who enters the contest. The contest will run every week for as long as the stay-at-home order stays in effect.
The Rossman team has been asking community members to cast their vote for which local restaurants they would want to support. So far, The Common Stove, Eclectic Café & Catering, and Rustica Pizza Vino have been selected.
“One of the things we’ve been really aware of during this whole COVID pandemic has been the struggles of our local restaurants,” Rossman said.
“It’s been really tough for them to keep opening and then closing; every week presents a different struggle.”
Rossman says when his real estate team makes the pitch to people to move from the GTA to Orillia, they speak about the vibrant restaurant industry that has developed over the years in the Sunshine City.
“One of the major aspects, when you look at the culture of a city, is the food, and Orillia has been developing its own cool food scene,” he said.
“I personally love eating at these local restaurants, the food is amazing, and I think we have some world-class restaurants opening here in Orillia.”
Rossman is hoping the #EpicRestaurantGiveAway contest will not only help local restaurants financially, but it will also result in much-needed exposure.
“We want to introduce restaurants to people who might not have been there before, and we can do that by way of a gift card,” he said.
To join the 400 local people who have already entered the contest, follow @rossmanteam on Instagram, follow the restaurant that is being featured during each week of the stay-at-home order, and tag three friends in the contest post who you would like to eat with.
Sweet Time Bake Shoppe owner Victoria Ignoto is also trying to brighten the spirits of community members with her #RandomActsofSweetTime campaign.
About three times a month, Ignoto leaves out free goodie bags for people who walk by her 64 Mississaga St. W. location.
“I just felt that everyone needed a pick-me-up and a reason to get outside,” Ignoto said.
The treats inside the goodie bags vary and are completely random, Ignoto says.
“Sometimes it depends on what we need to get rid of for the day so it doesn’t go to waste, or sometimes we purposely make extra so people can try our new products ... it’s a complete surprise for both parties,” she said.
Ignoto created the #RandomActsofSweetTime campaign before the pandemic, however, she has ramped up the campaign’s efforts during the holiday seasons and the stay-at-home order. So far the feedback has produced positive results.
“People have said ‘I was walking by, so I tried one of your baggies and now I’m a customer for life.’ We’ve also had people pick up a bag and give it to someone else who really needed it, so we’ve gotten a lot of really good stories and it’s been heartwarming for sure,” Ignoto said.
“To know that someone else saw the bags and thought to give one instead of taking one for themselves is really nice.”
All Ignoto asks for in return is that people who take a goodie bag also perform some sort of random act of kindness, if they can afford to do so.
