A grocery store in Carleton Place, Ont., is mourning the loss of two employees in the span of just one week, while rallying around the 18-year-old son of one of those colleagues.
For Taylor Szucs-Bandy, coming to work this past week just hasn’t been the same.
“I used to hear her laugh all the time out on the floor, and it’s just empty. It feels empty in here for sure. She was the light of this department,” she said.
On Thursday, Szucs-Bandy learned her colleague, Leanne Hall, had died after being hit by a passing vehicle on Highway 401. According to OPP, Hall had gotten out of her vehicle after striking the median.
“It definitely hit a lot of people hard, especially people working in produce,” Szucs-Bandy said. “I think it really hit because everyone’s so tight.”
Hall is the second employee at Anderson’s Your Independent Grocer in Carleton Place to die in the span of a week.
Owners Crystal and Mitch Anderson said another employee, Maggie, died following complications from surgery.
“It was a dreary week to say the least. Everybody was kind of gloomy, but that’s where I say our staff is our family. We came together as a whole,” Anderson said. “Maggie was probably one of the sweetest cashiers that we had; she loved the customers.”
For those who worked alongside Hall, they say her world revolved around her 18-year-old son, Haden.
“Haden was her life,” Szucs-Bandy said. “The way she spoke about him, she always had something to say about how he’s so accomplished, and I know she wanted to see him succeed.”
Now, Hall’s work family is raising money to help support Haden as he grieves the loss of his mother.
“Knowing that Haden is 18 years old and walking into this alone, I was not going to let that happen,” said Crystal. “My goal is to try and raise as much money as I can to start him off properly, to get him through school. He doesn’t have a car, he will need that now for a job, to work.”
Donations can be made at Anderson’s Your Independent Grocer in Carleton Place, as well as at participating Independent Grocer locations in Almonte and Smiths Falls. Donations can also be made online or through a barcode at participating store locations.
