Charity BBQ to aid CHEO Telethon

Charity BBQ to aid CHEO Telethon
Pictured from left are The Co-operators: Jonathan Campeau

By Adam Brazeau 
CORNWALL, Ontario – Spending the first weekend of June at the office is still a break from work when you’re cooking up support for the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario. Just ask The Co-operators staff in Cornwall.

The insurance company’s annual charity barbecue at its east end location (3304 Second Street) will be collecting funds for the CHEO Telethon on Sunday (June 7) from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.

There are no set prices for the grub and cold drinks. All donations are welcomed.

“We had a record-breaking year in 2014, hopefully that will continue,” said Jonathan Campeau, The Co-operators owner-financial advisor. “We even sold out of food.”

To date the local event has raised a whopping $32,723.

In 2012, $8,292 poured in. The following round cooked up $9,170. And last year netted $19,811, thanks in part to $5,000 from a Chesterville donor.

The Co-operators’ commitment doesn’t end at the grill.

When the two-day telethon officially kicks off on Saturday (June 6), the office will be transformed into a call centre from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Volunteering as operators are associate insurance advisors Tara Herrington, Priscilla Cashion, and Melanie Dorie, as well as Julie Williamson, receptionist, and, of course, Campeau.

“We picked CHEO as our charity of choice after realizing there hadn’t been a local support centre for the telethon in years,” he said. “We’ve all used their services. My baby just turned four months and we had to use the hospital for a few testings, so it’s just nice to have that kind of availability to a child-care specialist…and it felt like the right thing to do.”

To make a donation, call The Co-operators office at (613) 933-2105.

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