By Pepper Parr
August 7th, 2023
BURLINGTON, ON
It took Daryl Fowler just about a month to pull together the people that worked with him on getting the local food drive going.
When he set things up for the Friday start he asked the Burlington Food Bank for a hamper to put what was donated in. They delivered a big blue container – mid day Saturday he knew they were going to need more – not sure the Food Bank would be open on the weekend – he turned to his network and before the end of the day three more bins were in place.
It became really clear – Darryl leaned on his network – people he deals with on a regular basis and they all answered the call.
Stuff just kept coming in – $3000 in gift cards.
Daryl & Hannah Fowler – have three children; a four year old, a 2 ½ and a 1 ½. Hanna was a stay at home Mother but is looking forward to returning to the bank she has worked at for a number of years.
Daryl bought their first home in Hamilton, did very well on the sale of that home in 2017 which made it financially possible to move to Burlington. They don’t even think about moving anywhere else.
Daryl has been in HVAC all his working life. There were some labour difficulties during the early part of Covid and Darryl thought this was a good time to strike out on his own.
He describes himself as a one man shop with good talent that he uses on an as needed basis.
Four bins and half a tonne of food later – the photo op was earned.
“I am a people person, I like doing things with and for people – being on my own means I don’t have to spend time managing staff – all my effort goes into keeping customers happy.
He rents space at a storage facility – thinks maybe at some point he will open up a shop but at this point he thinks working on his own is best for him and his customers.
Darryl Fowler takes the shop with him when calling on a customer.
What he is finding however is that the cost of everything has increased: gas, parts, food – he knows everyone is feeling the same pinch.
He makes heavy use of social media and has a five star Google rating. His approach is “if they support me – I support them.
Julie Neal, who worked at setting a record for a bottle drive she and her husband took on in 2021 was part of that supporting network – a bit of a cluster there.
Burlington Together with its massive following was a part of making this happen. Burlington Dads were there as well.
These groups work independently; at the same time they are part of a collective that are more than an arms length from city hall.
This is what real community is all about.
