Cornwall Ontario – Downtown Cornwall was buzzing with enthusiasm and flavour last week when over 200 people visited five restaurants in one evening all in support of bringing chemotherapy to the city.

Team Scotia guided the evening’s groups to Bar Q, Table 21, Truffles, Schnitzel’s and Esca who all came together to host the evening helping the Flavours of Our Downtown Food event raise over $15,000 for the Cornwall Hospital Foundation in memory of Richard Allaire who lost his battle with cancer last November. Scotiabank was the title sponsor of the evening, matching funds up to $5000.

‘Food’ organizer Dan Allaire says, “without the participation and generosity of the downtown restos this event would not have been possible. They really put their best foot forward and hit a homerun. The feedback has been amazing with many asking when is this happening again?”

Allaire added “my father went through the daily commute to and from Ottawa and even Toronto for a period. Our family knows the added stress travel puts on an already difficult situation. Dad would have been proud of the vibe downtown last week; he was always about having a good time. Our family can’t thank all involved enough.”

Cornwall Hospital Foundation Executive Director Erin Killoran says “we are honored to be the charity of choice for this event, and sincerely appreciate the tremendous work of the restaurants as well as the volunteer committee. We can’t thank them all enough.”

‘Food’ sold out in just 5 days with a single Facebook post. Allaire says the committee was confident they could sell 200 tickets but never imagined they would go so fast.

“I often say we always take care of our own in this community and this was just one more example of that, I’m proud to live here and soon have localized chemotherapy treatment in our own backyard”, Allaire added.