The City of Prince Albert stayed true to their words by pouring in to support Jim Primeau at a pancake breakfast fundraiser on Saturday.
Primeau was shot and paralyzed after being attacked on June 4. On Saturday, an estimated crowd of more than 300 showed up to the Twilight Hotel in the south end of Prince Albert for a pancake breakfast held to help cover any expenses.
“(It’s) a really, really big turnout,” said Rami Ismail, who helps his father run the Twilight Motel. “It’s phenomenal. We were not actually expecting this many people.”
Primeau was a staff member at Twilight Motel, along with many of his family members. Ismail said Primeau would always bring his dog around the hotel, and was always very friendly.
He was shocked by news of the attack. Initially, he assumed it must have been a different Jim who was shot because Primeau was so well liked.
“I didn’t believe it,” Ismail said. “It was terrible.”
Ismail said they allowed the family to host the fundraiser at the motel because they wanted to support Primeau.
“There’s lots of bills that come with this,” Ismail said. “When you are in a wheelchair you’ve got to completely renovate your house to accommodate a wheel chair. There’s the bills, the mortgage, just stuff that accumulates with it.”
The pancake breakfast also included an opportunity for guests and supporters to sign a giant card for Primeau. His sister, Peggy Epp, said they appreciate the support.
“We planned for about 125 people but we’ve run out of that and made a few trips to the store already,” Epp said. “People are patient, thank goodness, but it’s phenomenal and people are making financial donations over and above coming and having a pancake breakfast, so it’s just been great.”
Epp said many members of Prince Albert business community made donations to make the fundraiser possible. All the drinks were donated, and one Prince Albert business owners who went above and beyond creating banners and posters.
She said a lot of people realize this shooting could have happened to anyone, and that’s helped raise awareness.
“We had another gentleman come here, he hasn’t been physically hurt that I know of, but he said he’s spent thousands fighting to get his house back, so this will open up other stories on what there’s got to be change,” Epp said. “But, it’s phenomenal when the community comes together like this—the donations of prizes, and baking and people buying it. We didn’t ask for donations or anything for any of the food, but they were very generous.”
“This couldn’t have turned out better,” said Sandra Primeau Fiddler, another of Primeau’s sisters. “I wish we were better organized. We had a few bumps this morning, but we’re good now. We’ve run out, and we’ve replenished.”
–with files from Jason Kerr/Daily Herald
