“I don’t consider myself a volunteer,” said Debbie Viveiros. “I’m someone who does what needs to be done. I’ve been the woman who writes a cheque, not the woman who gets involved.”
But there’s no other word for the advocacy and the hours Viveiros puts into various causes, than ‘volunteer.’
Although she is a lifelong resident of Bradford, her community engagement began about two years ago, when she stepped away from the corporate world and opened her own mortgage brokerage in Bradford.
“I worked outside of our community for most of my adult life,” Viveiros said. It was only when she started her own business and began to meet the town’s independent business men and women that she realized “how imperative it is that we support our small businesses in town.”
Her focus has become “really promoting small business and really promoting community, as much as I can,” she said. Last year she launched a campaign encouraging Bradford residents to ‘shop local,’ shining a spotlight on small businesses in Bradford.
Viveiros has also become a “go-to” person, a mentor and resource for women negotiating the pitfalls of divorce – “I’ve been there,” she said - and someone who has provided ongoing assistance to single moms.
“I’ve been slowly but surely drawn into the community,” she said
The COVID-19 pandemic has led her to step up again. As a member of the Bradford Mammas Facebook group, she was one of many who jumped in to support local mom Julie Ann Lingan, one of Bradford’s first diagnosed cases who ended up in Southlake’s ICU.
But she didn’t stop there. Viveiros was the driving force behind the introduction of the Donate A Dinner campaign, working with Tony Garcia of Poleiro BBQ and other local business owners to raise funds to provide free dinners for health care workers and staff at long-term care and retirement residences.
A $10 donation provides a meal for workers on the frontlines of the COVID-19 battle – an initiative that, after 13 days, raised $5,570 and delivered 557 meals.
When Viveiros learned of the COVID-19 outbreak at Bradford Valley, she also launched a campaign to provide personal protective equipment to staff.
She has spent long hours collecting donations of facemasks from construction companies, painters and contractors, and sourcing products using her 600 Facebook contacts. She recently delivered 100 masks to a small Bradford retirement home – “They were down to their last surgical masks,” she said - but she has met some roadblocks.
“It’s frustrating,” she admitted, especially since there has been some “push back” against the PPE drive.
“I’m flabbergasted how difficult this has been,” Viveiros said, although she is hoping that recent announcements by the Simcoe Muskoka Medical Officer of Health - of widespread testing, and more protective equipment - will mean better protection for long-term care workers. And she is not giving up.
“This is who I am. I’ve always gone to bat for the underdog,” she noted. With friends and family members in the long-term care system, “I just don’t feel I have a choice.”
Viveiros said that she plans to continue to use social media and Facebook to bring the community together in the fight against COVID-19, but doesn't see herself as a volunteer. She is part of a team.
Small businesses in BWG “have always been fantastic in supporting causes. It’s really easy for initiatives to get off the ground, once a team is together,” Viveiros said.
To donate a dinner for a healthcare worker or staff at Bradford Valley, donations can be made by e-transfer to [email protected].
