CJ’s Auto Spa owner CJ Cuffie wanted to give back as he moved to a new community.
The business started a food drive for the Newmarket Food Pantry last year, its first operating in town. Now, it is continuing that again this year, hoping to eclipse the 500 pounds of food it raised last year.
“With rising inflation, the prices going up, there’s a lot of people that are struggling,” Cuffie said. “We feel by doing this, we’re encouraging a lot of other local businesses to kind of follow the same trend, and hopefully we can make a huge difference.”
Like grocery stores and other organizations, the business is looking for non-perishable donations for the food pantry. It comes with food bank demand increasing over the past year, in part due to rising prices.
“We figured we would do it again, especially with the times,” Cuffie said. “Lot of people are having a hard time.”
The food pantry has highlighted community efforts over the past few weeks on its social media as donations to it and the community fridge come in.
“If the greatness of a community is measured by the compassionate actions of its members, then Newmarket must be one of the best places to live,” the food bank said on its Facebook. “Times maybe be tough, but here in Newmarket – we got this.”
The auto spa’s campaign has seen some success through email promotion over the past couple of years, Cuffie said. He added they are also holding a contest where a donation gets a ticket into a draw for a $200 gift card.
The store has signed up with the food pantry for the drive and to use the pantry’s logo. Cuffie said it is an easy thing to do and hopes other businesses take part.
He said they expect to make it an annual tradition and are looking at doing drives at other times of the year as well.
“We think it’s important to give back to the community whenever we can, whenever it is possible for us,” he said.
You can drop off donations at Cj Auto Spa’s location at 17075 Leslie St. You can also donate to the Newmarket Food Pantry at newmarketfoodpantry.ca
