Bradford Mayor Rob Keffer was pleasantly surprised when a turkey showed up at a meeting he was in earlier this week at the new Bradford fire hall.
The mayor had been listening in on a presentation from the Bradford Community Church's Summer of Service (SOS) youth group when Hector the large white resident turkey at Wishing Well Sanctuary on 10th Line waltzed in wearing his Sunday best.
Hector was rescued nearly a year ago after he was found running around a subdivision in Aurora.
"He's really friendly," said sanctuary volunteer Marc Doust. "He loves meeting people. He loves hugs."
The mayor and Deputy Mayor James Leduc chuckled as they knelt down and posed for a photo with the large bird.
The SOS team met Hector recently while helping out at the sanctuary, feeding and cleaning up after the animals and decided to bring him in as a special guest for their presentation.
For the second year in a row, the youth group can be found out and about town, bringing smiles to people's faces by performing random acts of kindness.
In her presentation, SOS member Allison Kalist shared with the mayor and deputy mayor, the group's mission and accomplishments over the past few summers.
Every week the group gets together to plan what good deeds they can do for the week, free of charge. The group works together, developing their team building, communication and problem-solving skills to help pay it forward in the community.
"A lot of us are followers of Jesus and we're trying to model his work, so we go out and we serve the community," said Kalist.
The group's goal is to show that, it doesn't cost anything to be kind and make someone's day.
Some of the other projects the group has helped with this summer include tree installations with the Nottawasaga Conservation Area, and sidewalk chalking with positive messages outside Hacienda Santa Teresa restaurant.
Every Friday you can find the group playing music and serenading customers in the Starbucks West drive-thru and offering free car washes in the church's parking lot.
"It does not take much to change someone's day," said Kalist. "We just want to make their day better by smiling."
The mayor and deputy mayor were impressed with the group's presentation and thanked them for their hard work and dedication to the community.
"Paying it forward, that's a big thing," said Keffer.
"It's very inspiring and nice to see," added Deputy Mayor James Leduc. "My heart was tickled. Thank you for all you're doing."
The SOS program is funded by the Canada Summer Jobs program but is seeking funding to help extend and support next year's program.
If you know of someone who may benefit from the help of the SOS team, or who is in a position to help with funding the program, contact Pastor Cory Kostyra at [email protected].
