Chapter Nineteen:
The Most Exciting Chapter
(The One That Hasn’t Happened Yet)

On February 27, 2024, I spoke at the Niagara Falls City Council monthly meeting regarding a proposed residential development across the street from BV Glazing. (I was not in favour of the development!) A few months later, I had to reference my speech and did a search on YouTube to find the video of the meeting. By mistake, I opened the video of the previous meeting instead, namely the meeting of January 16, 2024. As I scrolled through the meeting video looking for my speech, I randomly happened upon another speech, this one given my someone I had never heard of, a man named Pastor Steven deBoer. Here is a video of his speech:

I was so taken by the dynamism and magnetism of the speaker, that I said to myself, I have to meet this person. On my next trip to Niagara Falls on business, which was shortly afterward, I met with Steven at The Bridge on Queen Street. Steve introduced me to some of the volunteers and some of the people coming in for a no-cost meal. I listened to their stories, and quickly came to realize how unfortunate it is to have people in our town who don’t have enough for breakfast or a covered place to sleep at night.

What Steven and The Bridge had built—still in its early stages—resonated with me deeply. After some heartfelt conversations with my family, we decided to become premier sponsors of The Bridge. I also took on a role as Strategic Advisor to the Board.

The Bridge serves individuals in Niagara Falls facing food and housing insecurity. We won a grant to buy a refrigerated truck, and have arranged with local hotels, the casino, the Convention Centre and the Meridian Centre to pick up leftover food each night which otherwise would have been discarded.

We then repurpose the food and provide daily, nutritious breakfasts at no cost at our space on Queen Street.

Right now, we are in a small space next to where My Country Delicatessen used to be, but we have a long-term vision of being a larger hub downtown, not only serving food but also hosting educational and skills-based initiatives that help people take steps toward long-term stability and even adding supportive housing. To that end, we had a gala fundraising dinner on November 1, 2025, the details of which are here: https://thebridgenf.ca/ . For anyone reading this who wishes to partake in this, I would be ever so grateful.

On November 1, 2025, I gave the following speech at the Gala of The Bridge: