Stratford businesses leading by example with creative fundraiser for House of Blessing

Two Stratford businesses showed they were willing to work together and think outside the box with a recent fundraiser in support of a local food bank.

For four days over the Victoria Day long weekend last month, Strickland’s Stratford Toyota teamed up with Rosso Barber-O Shop to offer onsite haircuts to customers in exchange for donations at the Stratford car dealership. In total, more than 160 people took a seat in Rosso Villamil’s barber’s chair for a hair cut or a beard trim, while even more enjoyed barbecue lunches provided by Strickland’s on each of the four days.

Together, the two businesses managed to raise $750 in support of Stratford House of Blessing and the locals who depend on the food bank.

“Rosso has a barbershop in Ingersoll as well a Woodstock,” Strickland’s sales manager Josh Bes said. ” … I got to meet him (in Ingersoll) and based on … his personality and love for his craft … we hit it off. He was telling me he was eventually going to open up a place in Stratford, so then I followed him here (to get my hair cut). So I was in the Stratford shop … and I saw one day that the House of Blessing’s logo was on his window.

“We started talking and … I said, ‘You know what would be a lot of fun? You’re new in the community of Stratford and you’re partnered with the same organization we’re partnered with in town. Wouldn’t it be nice give back to you too and get your feet wet in the community?”

So, as a way to not only raise money and support for House of Blessing, but also to introduce Villamil to Stratford and area residents and bring more customers into Strickland’s over the Victoria Day long weekend, Bes and his team partnered with Villamil on the rather sole fundraiser.

For the Colombian-born hairdresser who had already made a name for himself earlier this year after trading a haircut for a pound of ground beef and a bag of potatoes, the chance to meet more of the Stratford community by cutting hair in exchange for donations to House of Blessing was a no-brainer.

“It’s simple,” he said. “When I was five or six, my dad told me, ‘You were born to be a server.’ … What I see now is people who are only looking out for themselves. I think we have to take a stand and try to open people’s eyes. We have to work together. If we don’t come together, what do we have? It’s the only option.”

And for Stratford House of Blessing, a charity that provides on-site pick up and home delivery of free, fresh, frozen and shelf-stable food as well as hygiene products, diapers and formula among other services, the timing of the creative fundraiser was perfect.

“Particularly at this time of the year when schools are coming to a close … many children will soon no longer be at school where they get the extra food they need (through school meal programs),” House of Blessing executive director Eva Hayes said. “This really helps us to up our gift to families and to help support those children in the summer.

“The summer’s a really difficult time for us because lots of people are on vacation mode … and they’re thinking about other things. The need doesn’t stop regardless of whatever time of year it is.”

While Villamil and Strickland’s have loose plans to host similar fundraisers in the future as well as other creative fundraising efforts individually, Hayes hopes their story can serve as an example and inspiration for other businesses in Stratford and the surrounding area.

“It would be amazing if other businesses could pick up on something like this,” she said. “It’s very creative and very outside-the-box thinking. To have two organizations come together like this is incredible.”

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