After 'giving so much to others', Oneida man overwhelmed as community helps his family

People from Oneida Nation of the Thames and London's surrounding area are rallying together to help a local "pillar of the community" who has spent the last three years feeding those in need, as he and his family face back-to-back tragedies.

Anthony Ireland's life changed three months ago when he learned his mother had stage 4 lung cancer, which soon spread to her bones. He has been taking care of her daily, driving her to appointments and spending weeks at a time at the hospital.

While on the way back from an early-morning MRI scan with her on June 20, Ireland's life changed again.

"[My wife] called me and said the house was on fire," he said. "When someone tells you over the phone that your house is on fire, you don't know how to process it."

"I grew up in that house, I wanted my kids to grow up in that house, I wanted my grandkids to grow up in the house," Ireland said. "And the thing is that I was trying to fulfill my mom's dying wish, and that was to let her die in her house. And then it burned down."

The fire engulfed the home quickly, burning or badly damaging most of the family's belongings, including photographs, Ireland's grandfather's old wood carvings and some of his mother's 3000-piece turtle decor collection, which honoured the family's turtle clan history.

"It's hard to process. Yes, it's a house and no one was hurt in the fire – and that's the main thing – but then you think about the stuff that is irreplaceable," Ireland said, adding that his family has lived in the home for 40 years.

Ireland is well known in both Oneida and the London area for his work running a soup kitchen, originally out of his own garage, where he has cooked healthy food and given away donations to those in need.

"Anthony has given so much to others … He shows what it means to care for others, to give and to bring his community together, especially to help and uplift those in need" said Diane Staines, who is the mission and outreach committee chair at the Oakridge Presbyterian Church.

Staines met Ireland in fall 2023 when she helped arrange for members of her church to volunteer at his soup kitchen by sorting donations, helping with food preparation and serving meals.

"For somebody who's given so much and so willingly volunteered his time and his building to help others, we as a Christian church want to show we care," she said, adding that the church is accepting donations to help the Ireland family and is supplying them with grocery gift cards.

The wider community is also rallying together to help the family, including through a GoFundMe campaign, which has raised more than $2,500 for the family as of Tuesday.

Ireland said it was hard to accept the help at first.

"I'm not used to it. I'm so used to being on the giving end, having a soup kitchen for three years," Ireland said. "When things like this happen, it's kind of amazing when people get together."

The cause of the house fire is currently unknown, Ireland said, and the fire department is still investigating.

The family has spent the weeks since the fire living in a hotel, but Ireland said he and his mother, wife and three daughters will move into a trailer they own soon.

"We're still all together," he said.

Ireland's soup kitchen has been on pause since December, he said, due to a shortage of donated food and increasing demand. However, he has been working toward registering it as a charity, which he hopes will encourage more donations from larger organizations.

In the meantime, he's turned the kitchen into a regular restaurant, which he hopes will make money to support his family, and to eventually put back into the soup kitchen.

"[My wife] tells me, 'You need to slow down; you're going to burn yourself out.' I can't slow down. I'm on a timeline," he said.

"Stage 4 cancer is a timeline. I never asked what the timeline is, but all I know is that I am trying to get this house back up so that I can fulfill my mom's dying wish. That's my focus."