Large turnout for ceremony marking start of 11,000 sq. ft. project
BY VOICE STAFF Wellspring Niagara, a service centre for those with cancer, broke ground on its new facility last Tuesday at a well-attended ceremony behind the Food Basics in East Fonthill.
At four in the afternoon, as the day’s heat could be felt rising from the crushed gravel below and the beaming sun above, “Boogie Wonderland” came bouncing through the loudspeakers. Mayor Dave Augustyn briefly swivelled to the music before regaining his composure and straightening up. The half-finished Community Centre loomed, but its shadow went the other way, providing no relieving shade for the assembled onlookers. Many wore hats, a few held parasols, and there were some bandanas suggestive of recent chemotherapy.
“Nothing like a little ‘Earth, Wind & Fire’ to get your attention,” said Ann Mantini-Celima, Wellspring Niagara’s co-founder and Executive Director, as she took the microphone.
Mantini-Celima began the afternoon’s program by recounting the emotional story of the organization’s beginnings. In the 1990s, her brother Aldo was diagnosed with malignant melanoma and had a difficult time finding support. Mantini-Celima recalled that Aldo felt an “overwhelming isolation” in his predicament. Ann was living in Toronto at the time, and took to visiting a Wellspring centre there, where she found just the sort of support community that her brother was missing in Niagara. Aldo did not survive the disease, though he spent his last years working towards a Niagara chapter of Wellspring and on his deathbed made his sister promise to do the same.
In 2001, Wellspring Niagara opened a 2,000 sq. ft. location on Schmon Parkway and operated there since. Last year it provided support for 640 individuals, and in 16 years has had over 70,000 event attendances.
These services are varied in their characteristics. Wellspring offers basic support groups, where sufferers and their families can speak of their experiences with others who have gone through the same, but there are also more intricate programs, too. There are “expressive arts” events, which include music, writing, and quilting, and even financial workshops to help sufferers and their families manage the economics impacts of cancer. Wellspring focuses a great deal on food and nutrition, and its new Pelham site will house a teaching kitchen.
The 1.8 acre East Fonthill site, on which the 11,000 sq. ft. building will be constructed, was donated by the Town, with a 20-year lease of $1 per year signed this May.
“It all started with a glass of wine,” Mantini-Celima said to Councillor Peter Papp, with whom she had initially conceived of Wellspring’s new Pelham home in 2013. Papp subsequently approached the Mayor and Council with the idea, and soon the Town was working with Wellspring to negotiate the specifics of the agreement.
Mantini-Celima closed her address by introducing her nephew Robert, who was only a year old when his father died. Her voice cracked as she concluded. “I am so grateful the Niagara community, which has helped bring Aldo’s dream to fruition,” she said. “Because of you, his vision will continue to impact the lives of men, women, and children who are affected by cancer, and will ensure that no one will feel alone in their cancer journey.”
Lisa Bouchard, a cancer sufferer who has along with her family used Wellspring’s services, took the podium next. “I’m not usually a public speaker,” she joked. “Normally I would do anything to get out of speaking, but I thought that I’d regret it later if I didn’t speak. And I’m learning to live without regret.” Bouchard was diagnosed with cancer two and a half years ago. The oncologist instructed her to “go home and live your life,” and Bouchard credits Wellspring with helping her to do this.
“Wellspring helps to rebuild what cancer has blown apart,” she said, mentioning that information sessions on wigs and make-up had been particularly important in maintaining her morale. Bouchard’s two young sons have made use of Wellspring’s services too, participating in “play-based therapy,” which is designed to help kids understand what’s happening and to help them cope. All of Wellspring’s services are free, something that Bouchard said is very important to her family’s finances, especially “now that we have tons of parking to pay for at all the appointments.”
“I would not be where I am now without Wellspring,” Bouchard concluded simply. The crowd applauded, and she walked back over to her family after giving Mantini-Celima a hug.
“Good job!” one of her sons said as she embraced him.
Following speeches from Augustyn and Tom Rankin, the construction mogul whose company is behind such cancer events as the Rankin Run, Regional Council Chair Alan Caslin spoke as well, his chain of office characteristically present and glinting in the sun.
Once the politicians had finished, the philanthropists moved in. Betty-Lou Souter, representing Wise Guys Charity Fund, thrilled the crowd when she announced that Wise Guys would be donating $100,000 to Wellspring. Adrian Barnet, from the Ontario Paper Thorold Paper Foundation, elicited even bigger whoops when he pledged $250,000 to the cause. According to Wellspring’s chair of board Joe Matthews, these contributions were part of a total $2.5 million that Wellspring has raised towards it $5 million goal for the new facility.
Mantini-Celina then returned to the podium to distribute shovels for the ceremonial groundbreaking, saving the last for her nephew Robert. The group smiled as they put the spades on a pile of dirt that had been arranged for the occasion. Those wearing dress shoes tried not to scuff them too severely.
Once the cameras had been put away and the shovels lain back on the ground, Mantini-Celina invited everyone to gather across the street at the Legion, which was throwing a free barbecue in honour of the groundbreaking. Some moved to head over there, others returned to their cars parked in the dust and prepared to leave. But more stayed, chatting, eating the “Smile” cookies that were passed around, glancing at the mound of dirt and an excavator, and looking pleased.
