A number of Quinte West area restaurateurs came together on Monday to give a sizeable financial boost to the Trenton Memorial Hospital Foundation.
Area restaurant owners whose establishments took part in the inaugural Match Madness Challenge, which began March 1st and ended on March 31st, gathered on Monday afternoon at the main entrance to the Trenton Memorial Hospital to turn over cheques that were matched, culminating in more than $15,000 for the TMHF.
Each participating restaurant picked a menu item, with $1 from each feature item sold matched dollar-for-dollar with 100 per cent of the proceeds supporting critically needed equipment at Trenton Memorial Hospital.
Restaurants taking part were Riverbrake Cafe Bistro, Little Caesars Pizza, Tomasso’s Italian Grille, Golden Valley Steakhouse and Grill, Subway restaurants in Trenton and Brighton and Gogi Korean Grill.
According to Wendy Warner, the TMHF executive director, the funds raised will be used for urology equipment associated with bladder cancer screening. She was grateful and humbled by the support from the restaurant community in Quinte West that gave to the foundation, although they have been hard hit over the past two years of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“It’s huge, as I was saying to the other gentleman, that not one of these businesses hesitated, not for a second. Not one. And, we even had a business that we deliberately didn’t asked because they support us in another (fundraising campaign) that just sent in a cheque to support the (Match Madness) campaign. So, you know, who can say more about a community like that? I mean, we’re blessed. These people have been hit really badly (by the COVID-19 pandemic), yet they still stepped up to help us,” said Warner.
Warner also praised Doug Crews, who stepped forward to match 100 per cent of the funds raised by the participating Quinte West restaurants through the month-long Match Madness campaign.
“Having a donor like that in the community is very important. They see the need for the hospital and how the government doesn’t fund medical equipment,” said Warner.
For his part, Crews said he was glad to be able to lend a hand and would like to do so again next year, although he was non-committal regarding 2023.
“I’m hoping they will have a better year next year, but I don’t know that I will be able to contribute, but we’ll see,” said Crews.
Warner was delighted to announce that all the restaurants and others have agreed to support a Match Madness campaign in 2023.
“We’ll be back. I think all of these restaurants have said that they would come on board again next year and we have had other interest as well, so I think it’s something that the community can look forward to,” said Warner.
(Written by: Alan Rivett)
