With a limp and small frame from 40 years of tiling, Denis Bezot probably won’t be cast as Santa in Hollywood. But in Nanaimo’s Harewood neighborhood, this humble retiree is happily doing his part for dozens of families this Christmas.
“Thank you for everything you’ve done for us Deni,” said Tammy Thorne, a Nanaimo resident and mother of two. When she entered Bezo’s store, he gave her a $200 gift card to buy her food and give her children the Christmas they wanted.
“It’s great, it helps us eat together and it makes things like Christmas easier,” said Bezo, a mother of a four-month-old and a 16-year-old boy.
All funding comes from Denny’s Dynamite Deals, an unlikely Santa’s thrift store on 6th Street in Nanaimo. This Christmas, we turned the proceeds from donated items into $10,000 worth of food gift cards to families facing hardship.
“They’re proud and they work hard, but they can’t keep up with the bills,” Bezo said.
Bezo said in the five years he’s been running the thrift store, he’s never seen demand like this year, and said he’s never seen so many people have their debit or credit cards declined when trying to pay. He added that he had never seen it.
“Oh, a lot. If only you knew how many times a day people came here,” Bezo said.
The senior has donated more than $400,000 over the past five years to support Nanaimo’s sports teams and music programs. But this year, he says, the focus is on people’s survival.
“It’s been a bad year in this way,” Bezeau said.
“I know that when I bring things here, it’s going to go into different hands and help people. It’s not going to go to corporations,” said Nanaimo resident Valencia LaFlame. he said.
Nanaimo’s father, Matt Stevens, was so touched by Bezo’s donation that he bought a cooler full of turkeys and hams to hand out outside the thrift store on Monday.
“Let’s go back to the old Nanaimo, where we all help each other out,” Stevens told those lining up for the giveaway.
Bezo hopes there will be more acts of kindness like this in the future, as this one man and his thrift shop reflect the spirit of giving this Christmas.
Reporting errors via editorial policy
