Nadia Rieger says she was very disheartened when she found out someone vandalized her store.
The Crow’s Nest Gallery and Art Studio owner says neighbouring businesses called her early on Wednesday and told her someone had thrown a stone through the front window.
She says glass was everywhere.
“It did a lot of destruction. It took out an entire shelf and a great deal of local art and there was glass from where the window was to the other end of the store, all the way to even my baby’s change table. It was absolutely horrendous when I got here,” Rieger said.
She says there was also glass in the courtyard just outside the store.
But the bad morning turned around quickly.
“The community came forward in a way that I wasn’t expecting, and genuinely changed my entire outlook on that day.”
She says within half and hour after posting the incident on store’s Facebook page, she received calls offering help with cleanup and repair.
“Within probably three hours, some complete strangers and some people we knew, they just came in and they even closed their stores down for the day to come out and help.”
Rieger says everyone made sure there was no glass anywhere in the store, and cleaned up the materials.
“It was really heartwarming. I had a lot of anger in the first part of my day, and my heart was filled by the amount of support from this community and what they did for me. I honestly can’t thank them enough,” she said.
The Crow’s Nest didn’t have to close, thanks to the community’s generosity. The window currently has been patched up, but Rieger says it will take a week to get it fully repaired.
“The store looks better than before this happened. I just felt like it wasn’t a safe place anymore but within such a short amount of time, they completely changed my mind and I can’t believe how amazing everybody here is.”
