From hosting community meals to participating in charity campaigns and partnering with local organizations and artisans, The Vine has been nourishing the community in many ways since it opened in Peterborough in 2023.
Now some of that same love and community support is being reflected right back at the pescatarian restaurant as they ask for financial support while owner Tyrone Flowers navigates complex health challenges.
In a matter of four days since announcing they will be suspending dine-in and take-out service and launching a GoFundMe to bridge the gap financially, The Vine has raised over $8,000 of its $10,000 goal.
“I can’t express my gratitude for the community in the city of Peterborough and just everyone,” says Flowers. “I’m at a loss for words.”
The Vine has been operating at irregular hours since early April, when Flowers’ health took a turn for the worse one day while he was working.
“I just forgot who I was, what I was doing, where I was — I had no idea,” he recalls. “I just went blank, and that probably lasted only for a few seconds, but I can’t fully be sure.”
“We (he and his partner Lauren Mortlock) went to the hospital and, I’ve got to say, the people at PRHC (Peterborough Regional Health Centre) are incredible. We went in and they did the stroke protocols because that’s what it seemed like had happened at first.”
Weeks later, Flowers still has no grip strength, and he’s experienced a wave of symptoms from brain fog and migraines to balance issues and fainting spells.
“You name it, I’ve had it,” he says.
Though Flowers has already undergone MRIs, CT scans, blood tests, and EKG tests, his healthcare team still doesn’t have an answer for him.
“As much as a relief as it is, it’s also very frustrating when they come back and tell you that everything looks normal,” says Flowers, adding the PRHC team has been “amazing.”
Flowers has even been set up with psychiatric help to navigate the mental battle, but there is still more to be done.
“I have to see a cardiologist, I have to see a neurologist, I have to wear a 14-day portable heart monitor, I have to go through physio to get the strength back, I’ve got stress tests, I have more CT scans, I have EMGs. I have so much coming up that it is overwhelming to a degree.”
With his health issues unresolved, Flowers made the difficult decision last Thursday (April 30) to indefinitely pause dine-in and take-out service at The Vine. However, Flowers and Mortlock will still serve up a Mother’s Day brunch buffet on Sunday (May 10) and will be at the weekly Peterborough Farmers’ Market on Saturday mornings.
The Vine will also be maintaining their commitments for wedding and event bookings, as well as community events including the Peterborough Dragon Boat Festival, Peterborough VegFest, the Punk Rock Flea Market, and others.
“We’ll still be at different events throughout the summer,” says Flowers says, noting that attending events and the farmers’ market is different from the uncertainties and pressures of running the restaurant.
“With markets and events, we know what the menu is and how much of everything is coming,” says Flowers. “If we just had reservations (at the restaurant) and knew exactly what was coming, it would be different, but the unknown gets me very confused.”
“With all the (medical) appointments coming up and everything, the consistency won’t be there,” Mortlock adds. “We don’t want to let down our clientele and customers because they’ve made a reservation and we get an appointment out of the blue and we have to close. We want to be consistent.”
With no current idea on when the restaurant will return to normal operation, Mortlock has launched a GoFundMe aiming to raise $10,000 to support the business during the challenging time.
When announcing the GoFundMe on social media last Thursday, Flowers was visibly emotional when he said it “really hard for me to say okay to because, if you know me, you know I hate asking for help — but that’s where we are.”
“I have always been of the belief that you work hard for your money — you don’t ask for handouts,” he tells kawarthaNOW. “I have had to switch my mentality mainly because of so many friends and family telling me, ‘This is you working hard’ and ‘This is just people taking care of you while you take a bit of a break.’ It’s never been an easy thing for me to ask for help, so having to do it was a lot.”
VIDEO: Tyrone Powers of The Vine
Flowers says it was an “emotional day” when the GoFundMe was launched, but he finds it “humbling in the best way” seeing how the community has responded to his ask for help.
“Business owners who I may have only interacted with on social media, or have been in (their businesses) once or twice, are posting things like they want to donate a percentage of their sales for the month to us, or they are setting up another way to gather funds for us,” Flowers says. “We’ve had some of the unhoused folks in the area that we do our best to take care of come in and try to bring us money.”
“There are some people we haven’t spoken to in 20 years and, all of a sudden, their name pops up on the donation list,” Mortlock adds. “It’s pretty incredible seeing the love towards Tyrone. The community is showing up in a way that we didn’t expect.”
Amidst it all their own challenges, The Vine is still giving back to the community. During the weekly farmers’ markets, they will have a tap machine set up that will allow customers to donate directly to PRHC.
“You can come and just tap and each tap donates $5 to them, just because they’ve been so amazing with us,” says Mortlock. “We’re happy to donate to them. We know they need some funds so that they can update equipment, so we’re happy to bring that along with us to the markets.”
To find out where The Vine will be in the community throughout the coming weeks and to stay up to date on when the restaurant reopens, follow The Vine on Facebook and Instagram. To donate to the GoFundMe, visit gofundme.com/f/donate-to-help-tyrone-recover or click the “Donate now” button below.
