When asked about Earlscourt BBQ, Corso Italia residents describe the restaurant as a community hub whose owner, Jason Rees, goes out of his way to lift up the neighbourhood.

So when a kitchen grease fire shut the place down on Dec. 10, dozens of community members banded together to support Rees and his staff.

As of Dec. 22, only five days after it went live, 47 people had donated $3,500 to a GoFundMe campaign created in support of Earlscourt BBQ by area resident Disa Cauk.

“When the fire happened, I felt so sad for them,” Cauk said. “I knew money was tight because of the loss of income and I wanted to do something to help.”

Rees, who lives between St. Clair West Village and Oakwood-Vaughan, was surprised and encouraged to learn about the campaign. He knew Earlscourt BBQ was popular, but didn’t realize how willing people were to help.

“It gives me incentive to get the restaurant open again quickly,” he said. “People say a lot of things about how they love your place, but when you see the outpouring of support on GoFundMe, it makes it seem a lot more real.”

Rees thinks it will be several months before he can open again, and his staff will be out of work in the meantime, so he plans to donate all the proceeds of the campaign to them. No one was in the restaurant when a pot of hot grease cooling in the kitchen somehow caught fire, but Rees believes the fire and the subsequent effort to contain it caused approximately $250,000 in damage to the building.

“It looks like just cleaning up the soot and getting rid of the water damage will pretty much use all of our insurance money,” he said.

After he has dealt with fire and water damage, Rees will need to rebuild the restaurant’s bathrooms and replace the kitchen exhaust system. Fortunately, he’s been buoyed by support from the community.

“The amount of phone calls I’ve had from various members of the community … sending messages offering their support, everyone’s offered to come help clean up and I’m just amazed,” he said.

Alex Balodis is a financial adviser who opened an Edward Jones branch in Corso Italia two years ago, around the same time Rees opened Earlscourt BBQ. He serves on the board of the Corso Italia BIA with Rees and has watched Rees quietly establish himself as a champion for the neighbourhood. He’s not surprised to see how Corso Italia residents and merchants have responded in Rees’ time of need.

Rees routinely offers up the restaurant for community events including fundraisers, BIA board meetings and community association meetings. The space hosts trivia, karaoke and comedy nights, and Balodis said it’s not uncommon for groups like DadsTO to hold meetup events there. Once, he and his wife had eaten dinner at the restaurant and were leaving as members of the meetup group for dads with young children were arriving for an event.

“You had all these dads and their infant children there and some of them were in matching outfits,” he said. “It was literally the most wholesome thing I’ve seen in my life, and there were maybe half a dozen wives at the bar having wine.”

Rees and his employees volunteer at public events, too. Balodis fondly remembers the first time Rees participated in the neighbourhood’s annual Halloween celebration.

“There was Jason outside in a Peppa Pig costume, handing out apple cider for free to everyone who was coming by and giving away pumpkins for families to carve,” he said.

And Natalie Langlois, a member of the Corso Italia Residents Association and the Friends of Earlscourt Park group, said that when she asked him to supply refreshments for the neighbourhood’s pumpkin parade this year, he didn’t hesitate to help.

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“He brought all the cups, brought the cider, he set up a little fire pit for people to warm up. He doesn’t ask for anything in return,” she said. Langlois said the neighbourhood dynamic is changing as more young families move into the area, and she sees Rees and his restaurant as part of that transformation.

“I think what he’s done is created a really welcoming family space in the neighbourhood. I see him as a positive energy,” she said. “The neighbourhood is changing a lot and he’s sort of part of that which is good, and he brings a lot of positivity to the neighbourhood.”

Kevin Lawrence lives a few minutes walk from Rees and has worked as a line cook at Earlscourt BBQ since it opened in the fall of 2017. When Rees handed out pumpkins paid for by the BIA before Halloween, Lawrence was by his side doing the same. Although he knows it could be months before the restaurant opens again, he intends to stick it out and continue working for Rees. He’s hopeful Earlscourt BBQ will be back on its feet soon.

“These are my brothers, this is my family,” he said. “I’ve been here the longest, employee-wise, and me and Jason have been through thick and thin with this. This is just a family thing and we’re going to pull together and get it done. It’s going to happen.”

To support Earlscourt BBQ and its staff, visit the crowdfunding campaign on GoFundMe.