What’s a better way to welcome Jelly Roll to St. Catharines but a little jam.
To mark the rapper-turned-country artist's first-ever show outside the United States, Beechwood Doughnuts has created a special Jelly Roll doughnut with $1 from each doughnut sold going to The Heather Winterstein Foundation.
The creation is a 100 per cent vegan doughnut coated with powdered sugar and filled with a tart, raspberry jam. It will only be available for purchase at the store, located at 1165 St. Paul St., on the day of the show, Monday, July 8. Pre-orders will be accepted online only on July 7 at beechwooddoughnuts.com.
“My dad told me about the concert and the charity they were putting it on for,” said Beechwood co-owner Tayler Book. “I thought it was a great idea.”
Oddly enough, Kay Meilleur, regional director of marketing for the Meridian Centre and Canada Games Park thought the same and reached out to Book about a week or so later.
Meilleur said that as a venue the Meridian Centre wanted to do something to welcome the artist and help the foundation at the same time.
“We gift most of our artists Beechwood doughnuts and of course there is a natural fit, Jelly Roll is named after the doughnut,” Meilleur said. “It made sense to work with Tayler on ‘Jelly Roll Day’ and it’s another way to help give back to the foundation and support local.”
A representative for the foundation could not be reached for comment on Friday.
The concert itself is also a fundraiser for the foundation, created to honour the legacy of Heather Winterstein, who was 24 at the time of her death in December 2021. She had been brought via ambulance to the emergency department at what is now known as the Marotta Family Hospital in St. Catharines, complaining of back pain. She was given Tylenol and sent home. She returned to the ER the following day and later collapsed and died on the emergency room floor. It was later revealed that she had died from a Strep A blood infection.
A coroner’s inquest has been called to investigate the circumstances surrounding Winterstein’s death. The date of the inquest has not been announced.
With support from the Fort Erie Native Friendship Centre, the foundation aims to support Indigenous prevention programs and healing services; advocate for Indigenous health services locally, provincially, and nationally, and offer scholarships for Indigenous individuals pursuing post-secondary education institutions in the fields of nursing and medicine.
More information on the foundation can be found at www.heatherwintersteinfoundation.org.
To honour Heather, attendees of the show are also asked to wear pink, which was Heather’s favourite colour.
In addition, Niagara Parks will be lighting the Horseshoe and American falls pink on Monday evening while the Buffalo and Fort Erie Public Bridge Authority will be doing likewise for the Peace Bridge.
