A Cochrane family reeling from the death of their son has launched a GoFundMe page to support mental health in the culinary industry.
Nina Wallinder’s son Skyler was lost by suicide on April 18 at the age of 24.
Skyler graduated from Bow Valley High School in Cochrane and went on to attend the SAIT culinary program. He cherished being in the culinary industry, Wallinder said, and treated crafting a meal as an art form. He embraced creativity to create one-of-a-kind feasts.
“As a person, he was friendly, engaging, fierce, supportive, he was a good friend, a kind soul and very sensitive,” Wallinder said.
Wallinder said she is proud of her son and the sense of purpose he was able to find working in the culinary world.
“The food industry carries our culture – they are the foundation and backdrop to our milestones and life events,” Wallinder said. “That is the magic that attracted Skyler to the industry.”
Skyler was a chef at the Kensington Wine Bar in Calgary, Wallinder said, and it was a restaurant that valued building a strong sense of community and awareness of how each teammate was doing.
However, the uncertainty, stress and isolation brought on by the pandemic took a toll on Skyler’s mental well-being, and affected his sense of purpose. Wallinder said he had been struggling with anxiety and she was heartbroken to see how heavy the load had become.
Skyler, she said, was not immune to the pressures and stresses experienced working in a kitchen. The long days, irregular sleep patterns, high stress situations and social isolation impacted him as it has many others in the industry.
These stresses were exacerbated by the pandemic and the increasing uncertainty of job security and what the industry would look like in the future. For Skyler, these factors intensified mental health concerns he had been silently struggling with, she said.
The GoFundMe was launched to honour what mattered to Skyler and the negative mental health issues brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The well-being of others was something near to Skyler's heart, Wallinder said, and the GoFundMe "Mental Health Memorial Initiative for Skyler" is being used to set up a fund to support the mental health of those in the culinary field in the hopes of preventing a similar tragedy.
They are making deliberate plans to create a legacy in the industry in Skyler’s name, according to Wallinder, and are continuing to explore different avenues to support mental health in the culinary community.
Many in the hospitality industry are feeling the anxiety of being on the front line of the pandemic and this has created a feeling of high stress combined with social isolation. These issues have only been exacerbated by the high degree of uncertainty restaurant owners and staff have faced with the constantly fluctuating public health measures that have forced multiple shutdowns in the industry.
“The mental health in the culinary industry is an important topic. We did some initial searching and I called the Canadian Mental Health Association. At that time I couldn’t find anything related to that specific niche [the hospitality industry],” Wallinder said. “In the absence of an obvious option, we created the GoFundMe in order to be able to explore that further.”
The recent death of renowned chef Anthony Bourdain has heightened the awareness of the experience of languishing mental health in the culinary community, Wallinder said, but there are still gaps in support those in the industry face.
She is grateful for the support the GoFundMe initiative has received, as the fundraiser had already surpassed $17,000 by May 13.
“I feel a great sense of responsibility to honour that trust,” Wallinder said.
The industry faced another shutdown on Monday (May 10) with the move to take-out and delivery only, Wallinder said, and she feels for those now facing layoffs and an uncertain future.
“My heart goes out to each and every one of those people who may be struggling for rent or food— We’re talking about the basics,” Wallinder said. “My heart hurts for anybody in the hospitality industry it’s just been devastating for them.
“We need our sense of community even more during these times.”
