After 'giving so much to others', Oneida man overwhelmed as community helps his family

Kendra Seguin · CBC News

· Posted: Jul 15, 2025 4:02 PM EDT | Last Updated: 4 hours ago

People from Oneida Nation of the Thames and London's surrounding country are rallying unneurotic to assistance a section "pillar of the community" who has spent the past 3 years feeding those successful need, arsenic helium and his household look back-to-back tragedies.

Anthony Ireland's beingness changed 3 months agone erstwhile helium learned his parent had signifier 4 lung cancer, which soon dispersed to her bones. He has been taking attraction of her daily, driving her to appointments and spending weeks astatine a clip astatine the hospital. 

While connected the mode backmost from an early-morning MRI scan with her connected June 20, Ireland's beingness changed again. 

"[My wife] called maine and said the location was connected fire," helium said. "When idiosyncratic tells you implicit the telephone that your location is connected fire, you don't cognize however to process it."

"I grew up successful that house, I wanted my kids to turn up successful that house, I wanted my grandkids to turn up successful the house," Ireland said. "And the happening is that I was trying to fulfill my mom's dying wish, and that was to fto her dice successful her house. And past it burned down."

The occurrence engulfed the location quickly, burning oregon severely damaging astir of the family's belongings, including photographs, Ireland's grandfather's aged wood carvings and immoderate of his mother's 3000-piece turtle decor collection, which honoured the family's turtle clan history.

"It's hard to process. Yes, it's a location and nary 1 was wounded successful the occurrence – and that's the main happening – but past you deliberation astir the worldly that is irreplaceable," Ireland said, adding that his household has lived successful the location for 40 years. 

'Shows what it means to care'

Ireland is good known successful some Oneida and the London country for his enactment moving a crockery kitchen, primitively retired of his ain garage, wherever helium has cooked steadfast nutrient and fixed distant donations to those successful need. 

"Anthony has fixed truthful overmuch to others … He shows what it means to attraction for others, to springiness and to bring his assemblage together, particularly to assistance and uplift those successful need" said Diane Staines, who is the ngo and outreach committee seat astatine the Oakridge Presbyterian Church.

Staines met Ireland successful autumn 2023 erstwhile she helped put for members of her religion to unpaid astatine his crockery room by sorting donations, helping with nutrient mentation and serving meals. 

"For idiosyncratic who's fixed truthful overmuch and truthful willingly volunteered his clip and his gathering to assistance others, we arsenic a Christian religion privation to amusement we care," she said, adding that the religion is accepting donations to assistance the Ireland household and is supplying them with market acquisition cards.  

The wider assemblage is besides rallying unneurotic to assistance the family, including done a GoFundMe campaign, which has raised much than $2,500 for the household arsenic of Tuesday.  

Ireland said it was hard to judge the assistance astatine first. 

"I'm not utilized to it. I'm truthful utilized to being connected the giving end, having a crockery room for 3 years," Ireland said. "When things similar this happen, it's benignant of astonishing erstwhile radical get together."

Soup room connected pause

The origin of the location occurrence is presently unknown, Ireland said, and the occurrence section is inactive investigating. 

The household has spent the weeks since the occurrence surviving successful a hotel, but Ireland said helium and his mother, woman and 3 daughters volition determination into a trailer they own soon. 

"We're inactive each together," helium said. 

Ireland's crockery room has been connected intermission since December, helium said, owed to a shortage of donated nutrient and expanding demand. However, helium has been moving toward registering it arsenic a charity, which helium hopes volition promote much donations from larger organizations.

In the meantime, he's turned the room into a regular restaurant, which helium hopes volition marque money to enactment his family, and to yet enactment backmost into the crockery kitchen. 

"[My wife] tells me, 'You request to dilatory down; you're going to pain yourself out.' I can't dilatory down. I'm connected a timeline," helium said.

"Stage 4 crab is simply a timeline. I ne'er asked what the timeline is, but each I cognize is that I americium trying to get this location backmost up truthful that I tin fulfill my mom's dying wish. That's my focus."