What do you call a curated bundle of hometown specialty food products just in time for the holidays?
Whether you call it a love letter to North Bay — or even a keen sense of giving back to those who have supported you along the way — Nico Waltenbury is thrilled to speak about the non-profit local small business booster he and two longtime friends have put together this holiday season.
Each $60 curated Bay Bundle includes delicious offerings from 10 North Bay favourites, of which $58 goes back into the coffers of the local establishments and $2 goes to the Santa Fund. The Caisse Alliance North Bay has generously supported the project by covering overhead.
For more details and a full list of participating partners in the Bay Bundle, click here.
"This program has worked really well in other places across the country — including Markham; Waterloo; St. John's, Newfoundland — and we thought if there was any community it would continue to be successful in, it would be North Bay because of the strong, local community spirit and the generous people we grew up with," says Waltenbury by phone from Toronto.
The Bay Bundle is a team effort. North Bay-raised St. Joseph–Scollard Hall alums Sierra Mercer, Taylor Hummel and Waltenbury scattered following graduation in 2015 to chase their educational and career pursuits but the old high school chums have teamed up to put together the Bay Bundle this holiday season — simultaneously showcasing and supporting small local businesses and the Santa Fund.
"We were all born and raised in North Bay and care deeply about the success of our hometown. We started this project because we saw the impact that the COVID-19 pandemic was having on the small businesses that have been a part of our lives for years," says the Bay Bundle team.
On their reasons for giving back, the group says these are "the businesses where we met for a hot chocolate. The businesses where we went with our families for a special treat on a Sunday afternoon. The businesses that sponsored our hockey and soccer teams."
Waltenbury says sales have been brisk and the time to act is now to get your Bay Bundle, adding the team is most grateful for the local support the initiative has already seen since launching Monday night.
