Hussein Qarquoz said when his family came to Sudbury just over four years ago, in December 2015, they received a warm welcome and a lot of help from the community.
The Syrian refugees were sponsored to come to Canada by St. Andrew's United Church.
A baker by trade, Qarquoz opened his own eatery, Damascus Cafe and Bakery, coming up on two years ago, in April 2018. The Syrian restaurant is located at 106 Beech St. in downtown Sudbury, close to Shoppers Drug Mart.
Qarquoz said he's always given people in need free food — he did this in his home country of Syria, where he also owned a bakery until civil war forced his family to flee to Lebanon in 2012, before their move to Canada.
So when he saw many people in need in downtown Sudbury after opening his business, he often gave them something to eat.
Qarquoz stepped things up a notch over the holidays. He recently ran a notice on his Facebook page, saying that from Dec. 24 until Dec. 31, he'd give free food to anyone who couldn't afford to pay.
He said he's not sure how many people they helped out during that period, as sometimes it was him working, and sometimes it was one of his sons. Qarquoz said he gave out soup, rice, sandwiches, dessert and chicken schwarma.
“Lots of people helped my family,” Qarquoz said. “Yes for sure. One hundred per cent … Now I am helping people.”
The business owner said he's definitely not done feeding those in need. The restaurant's Facebook page said that although the holidays are now over, it looks forward to future food giveaways.
“We are very happy that we’re giving something back for this lovely community,” said the Facebook post. “Happy New Year everyone.”
Three years ago, the Qarquoz family was one of the recipients in Sudbury.com's 12 Days of Kindness series. You can watch our video below:
