Like holiday gifts, Christmas traditions come in all shapes and sizes and for White Spot Richmond Centre, tradition means the restaurant will be open once again this year on Christmas Day for lunch. For the 13th year, White Spot Richmond Centre will open its doors from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. with all staff time, tips and net proceeds being generously donated to Richmond Hospital Foundation.
A staff-led event, more than 50 staff members choose to generously volunteer their time and donate wages and tips on a day when most families are celebrating at home. “The credit goes to the staff for making this happen. It’s a team effort,” says Prakash Ganatra, owner of White Spot Richmond Centre. “Staff feel very proud of this event. More than 80 percent of the staff here will volunteer. White Spot’s own CEO, Warren Erhart, also joins us. We recognize everyone sacrifices a lot to come here on Christmas Day.”
Originally from India, Ganatra emigrated to Canada in 1973 and has worked almost exclusively at White Spot. “When I came from Bombay, hardly anything was open on Christmas Day here. I wanted to provide an opportunity for somewhere for people to go—people who may be single and on their own, seniors, people without families nearby.”
For Ganatra and team, the day is the busiest of the year. “Guests come from all over the Lower Mainland. And they come early—three quarters of the restaurant fills up by 11 a.m. The success of the event would not be possible without them. And it’s all because they know it’s for a good cause.”
For the entire team who puts in the hard work, that cause is personal. “Staff said, ‘we live in Richmond. We use Richmond Hospital. Anytime we have an emergency, we go to Richmond Hospital,’” said Ganatra.
Since the event’s inception in 2001, staff tips and net proceeds from the event have totaled more than $90,000 to help improve local care at Richmond Hospital.
“We rely solely on Richmond Hospital,” says Ganatra. “But health care costs are going up. Taxes are going up. We can’t expect government to do everything. The hospital needs newer equipment, newer facilities. The government has only so much. The general population is getting older. The population is growing. We will all use Richmond Hospital.”
