A downtown landmark has a new name to honour one of Timmins’ longtime volunteers.
The former Daily Press building at 187 Cedar St. S, has been housing organizations like the Timmins Anti-Hunger Coalition, the United Way, and the Timmins Food Bank over the past year. It now has a new name — the Rick Young Centre — to honour the work of the man who has worked with the Timmins Food Bank since its inception.
Young's family and friends and social service organization representatives gathered at the building on Tuesday, March 26, to celebrate the new name.
“I’m still in shock, I thought we were going to take a picture outside, we were going to go home, but it didn’t happen that way,” he said.
The new sign faces Cedar Street South and will light up at night.
Young said that his work has always been for the good of the community and never for recognition.
“I could probably go on and on with hundreds of names,” he said. “We have 31 volunteers, and some of them have been there since day one. They’re the ones who deserve the credit. They’re the ones that make me look good.”
Young’s daughter, Lori Meunier, told the gathering how proud her family is of the work her father continues to do.
“It is our prayer that this building serves as a testament to his legacy and inspires future generations to follow in his remarkable footsteps,” she said.
Young’s influence on the community and the people he has worked with was evident in the words of Cochrane District Social Services Adminstration Board (CDSSAB)'s CAO Brian Marks, who remembered meeting Young as a young man.
“Over the years, growing up in the neighbourhood and knowing the good work Rick did, we had many conversations, and rarely did the word no enter into the conversation,” he said. “It was always about what could be done.”
Marks said everything about the food bank and other the other social services at the location fit together.
“It just seemed right because it's one thing to provide access to food, but knowing the business we’re in, with housing and social assistance, often times people may have access, but they don’t know what to do with food,” he said. We started thinking about what else we could leverage in this building, and it just made sense to bring some partners in.”
CDSSAB bought the building in 2022 with plans to turn it into a food security hub for the community. Those plans are still in motion, and renovations, including a teaching kitchen, are still in the works.
