Businesses and people around the Lower Mainland have come together to support a Burnaby man who was forced to choose between paying for supplements that are keeping him alive and paying rent.
Surrey-based Magnum Nutraceuticals heard about Shaun Balint’s story this week and has donated $4,000 worth of supplements to his cause.
Balint, a former bodybuilder, has lost 143 pounds in the last couple of years due to severe food allergies. To maintain his nutrition, doctors prescribed protein bars and shakes. The supplements cost $795 a month, but the provincial government only covers $205. After a hospital visit, he and his wife Lara said they were told by staff not to worry about the cost, so the pair went out and spent their rent money on the protein supplments. They soon found out about the discrepancy in coverage and couldn’t make their August and September rent.
“I just thought, ‘What can I do to help?’” Tino Damico, an employee at Magnum Nutraceuticals, told the NOW.
He immediately called his boss Markus Kaulius, who was “very touched” by what Balint had been going through.
“He said, ‘Great, email the staff and everyone, and get it going,’” Damico said. “I sent out a mass email, saying I’d like to donate my portion of supplements I’m allocated each month. Everyone responded quickly and said, ‘Absolutely, we’d love to do it.’”
Kaulius has also decided to match all donations made by his employees to Balint’s GoFundMe page, which currently sits at more than $4,000.
Meanwhile, Brad Alderson, the owner of the Coquitlam and Burnaby Popeyes supplement stores, is collecting supplement donations for Balint, who also happens to be a Popeyes customer.
“We’re going to just basically try and help them as much as we can,” he said, adding his store will even go as far as giving him the staff discount rate.
The good will doesn’t stop there. The Balints also received help from an Abbotsford couple, who covered their missed rent payments.
“They caught us up to where we’re now at zero going forward. That was amazing,” said Lara. “I thought, wow, you couldn’t ask for a sweeter thing.”
She said the response from the community has been “overwhelming” and “very humbling.”
“Thank you, thank you very much for all the help,” she said.
As for Balint, she said he’s had a tiring few days doing interviews, but is resting up.
The couple originally approached Kathy Corrigan, MLA for Burnaby-Deer Lake, for help. Corrigan asked the government, on their behalf, if it could make an exception for Balint. The ministry’s response was that they were bound by legislation.
“The only suggestion we could give is to work with his doctors to see if there are cheaper alternatives and/or seek out community resource support,” responded the government.
