A 20-year veteran of North Bay Fire and Emergency Services is heading to Ottawa with fellow firefighters to make a difference for families desperately seeking some normalcy in their lives in trying times.
Firefighter Paul Auger knows from experience how much it means to a family to be able to stay together near the hospital that their loved one is being treated. The Auger family was forced to spend months in Ottawa while their daughter was treated for leukemia at CHEO (Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario).
The Augers were welcomed by the staff at the Ronald McDonald House and provided them with a place to call home for as long as it was required. Not having to worry about accommodations in this difficult time was essential for the family.
The Ronald McDonald House has 14 rooms, each named after a city in Ontario. One of the rooms is named the North Bay Room. Paul wanted to do something to give back for all of the support that he has received. Some of the rooms are in need of a facelift so he decided that a great way to give back for their support over the years would be to completely renovate the North Bay Room.
A crew of firefighters is off to Ottawa this week to do just that. They will install new flooring, new furniture, install new fixtures to spruce the room up. The room will be filled with North Bay-themed art and objects that represent the city. The firefighters are not related but they are a family supporting one of their brothers, who is in turn, trying to help other families in their times of need.
A firefighter in Ottawa heard what Paul and his firefighters were up to and told Paul that Ottawa Fire would match the efforts of our firefighters and totally renovate another room at the Ronald McDonald House. Paul and his family hope that this story gets out and that firefighters join with the firefighters from North Bay and Ottawa to consider renovating the rooms named for their adopted cities.
North Bay’s Rebuilt Resources has provided most of the funding for this project. The family of the late Bert Saunders donated two paintings. Other community partners such as Stewarts Paint and Decorating, Manchester’s Furniture, The FrameMaker, and Walmart have donated to this worthwhile cause.
