Doug MacKenzie, a long-time advocate of helping people recover from additions and to cleaning up the downtown core, has initiated yet another project.
MacKenzie, who owns the Options Okanagan Treatment Centre for those struggling with addictions, grew up in the downtown area and visits frequently with new and innovative projects to improve the neighbourhood. He said he had been working to set up a treatment centre in the area, but has become frustrated with the bureaucratic red tape involved, so he decided to move forward on another idea to create employment for people recovering from addictions.
MacKenzie’s first step was to reach out to Jay Harnish, who owns and operates JFO Exteriors Cleaning Services, which provides outdoor cleaning services in southern Vancouver Island, and the two agreed to establish Options Exterior Cleaning and hire up to six people in recovery. Harnish said he will put JFO Exteriors on the back burner for now and focus his energies on Options Exterior Cleaning.
“I was very interested when Doug approached me with this idea,” he said. “I’ve lived in the Cowichan Valley since 1995 and I wanted an opportunity to give something back. I’ve met a lot of people in recovery over the years and they need support. A lot of people have given up on them when they shouldn’t have.”
MacKenzie said he had also recently received a phone call from Will Arnold, the owner of Experience Cycling and also a well known community activist in the downtown area, who told him that the Domino's restaurant located at 486 Trans Canada Highway, right next to Experience Cycling, had moved and suggested that MacKenzie set up some sort of restaurant there as part of his campaign to open businesses that employ people in recovery.
“It’s great location, so now we’re opening Option Salad & Subs Meal Prep at that site on March 1,” MacKenzie said. “The restaurant will offer healthy food options, including protein salads, hot and cold subs, and flatbread pizza. We’ll be looking for about three workers there and people in recovery looking for a job can call me at 250-864-6068.”
MacKenzie has hired Dave Daley, a former addict who has been clean since 2008, to be the manager of Option Salad & Sibs Meal Prep.
Daley said after completing his recovery program at Freedom's Door, a rehab centre for men in Kelowna, he spent five years there as the centre’s kitchen manager, so he brings a wealth of cooking experience to his new role.
“Doug offered me this job and I said 'I'm in' right away,” Daley said. “I really want to help people in recovery.”
MacKenzie said the next project he wants to focus on is to set up outpatient counselling for those with addictions in the region.
Last February, MacKenzie spearheaded the successful “Unity in the Community” project to help local businesses recover from the pandemic. He encouraged people to pick five of their favourite small businesses in the area, and then arrange to have friends and colleagues meet at each of them to buy their products and showcase the shops.
In 2020, MacKenzie began a campaign called “Love Your Community, One Street at a Time”, in an effort to clean up the more troubled areas of downtown, including Whistler Street.
In 2021, MacKenzie and his group of volunteers returned and spent the Canada Day weekend that year painting the exterior of the buildings along Whistler Street.
“I grew up here and I was more than happy to come back and help clean up the area and turn it around,” he said. “Now we’re setting up new businesses here to help people in recovery. I’m proud to be a part of it.”
