Owners of The Everyday Kitchen doing something you don’t see every day

Instead of people gathered around tables with coffee cup in hand, The Everyday Kitchen is filled these days with long tables holding boxes of donuts and coffee cups ready to be taken out.

It has been about a week since the Regina shop moved its business to takeout or delivery only, in accordance with the province’s COVID-19 regulations. Despite that, co-owner Mark Shmelinski said the shop is fairly busy.

So Shmelinski and his wife decided, for as long as they can, to donate their profits during the pandemic to local charities and businesses in need.

“We have an opportunity as a business to inject hope. Right now there’s a lot of fear and uncertainty in the business community and even in people’s personal lives. They don’t know what work or their life will look like,” explained Shmelinski.

“And with so many people applying for EI or getting laid off or being uncertain about their future, we want to help bring a different story to light and not just one of fear or worry.”

Shmelinski said he and his wife feel they’re in a position to do this, so they want to “inject some hope” into the community.

He explained that they have always believed the purpose of their business is to impact the community.

The charities include the Regina Food Bank, Carmichael Outreach, and Souls Harbour.

Shmelinski said they’re still working out how the support for local businesses will work in the future.