Baseball players are used to getting post-game whipped-cream pies in the face from prankster-happy teammates.
LCBO managers? Not so much.
Phil Aune took one for the team on Friday, agreeing to be pied a half-dozen times or more by first his daughter and later LCBO staff members, helping to raise money for the United Way of Thunder Bay.
It was all in good fun, said Aune, the liquor retailer’s Northern Ontario district manager.
“We decided locally that we were going to try to raise some extra funds,” Aune said, moments before his daughter lived out every teenager’s childhood fantasy, grinding a plateful of whipping cream into her father’s face.
“The staff asked me if I was willing to take a pie in the face and that’s how it all started off. We started off with a barbecue. It was supposed to only be me getting a pie in the face, but now we’ve got going and the store managers will be coming up too if we can raise some funds.”
At the end of the day, it’s all about raising money for the United Way. It’s a good cause and they support thousands of people in the community, he added.
“They sponsor many local charities in Northern Ontario, which is my district. In every town they do something to support locally,” he said. “We want to raise money to help the local communities we support.”
Aune was joined by several other LCBO employees who offered up their own faces – not to mention hair and clothes – for the lunch-hour fundraiser.
The United Way’s Kristy Pochailo said it was a unique way to help kickstart the annual fundraising campaign, which will officially launch on Sept. 16.
“The LCBO is a huge supporter of our local United Way campaign and we’re very happy that they put on this barbecue fundraiser today and had a number of their managers come out and volunteer to have pies thrown in their faces for a great cause,” she said.
“You don’t see pie-in-the-face a whole lot, but you know what, the dunk tanks, the pies in the face are becoming more and more popular the past few years.”
