Anthony Ireland ran a soup kitchen out of Oneida for three years, helping those in need. Now, when he needs support, the entire community is rallying to help his family.

Anthony Ireland’s mother, Myra, was diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer earlier this year, and he lost his home of 40 years in a fire last month. People from the Oneida Nation of the Thames and London’s surrounding area are rallying together to help Anthony, whose goal is to rebuild the house in time to fulfill his mother’s final wish of dying in her own home.

Anthony spent the last three years feeding those in need, but the recent tragedies have put him in need of support himself as he and his family face back-to-back tragedies. It all changed in a matter of months. Anthony had wanted his kids and grandkids to grow up in the same house. The house fire on June 20 damaged most of the family’s belongings, including photographs, Ireland’s grandfather’s old wood carvings, and some of his mother’s 3,000-piece turtle decor collection, which honoured the family’s turtle clan history.

Anthony is known as a pillar of the community in both Oneida and the London area for his soup kitchen, which he originally started out of his own garage. Now in a time of need, Anthony has found support from his community and especially Diane Staines, who is the mission and outreach committee chair at the Oakridge Presbyterian Church. The church is accepting donations to help the Ireland family and is supplying them with grocery gift cards.

The wider community is also rallying together to help the family, including through a GoFundMe campaign, which has raised more than $3,300 and counting for the family. Ireland said it was hard to accept the help at first but is overwhelmed by the support he is getting back from the community.

Source: Kendra Seguin, CBC