Retirees roll up their sleeves to serve understaffed restaurants on Sunshine Coast

After seeing "help wanted"signs outside restaurants on B.C.'s Sunshine Coast for weeks on end, a group of nine retirees decided to step in and fill the vacancies on a volunteer basis.

Brian Coxford, one of the volunteers, said he first realized the extent of the problem when strolling the Sechelt beachfront,noting manybusinesses were closed because they didn't have enough staff to open.

"This isn't just a Sunshine Coast problem ... This is a serious problem we need to solve," Coxfordsaid on CBC'sAll Points West.

In the midst of awidespread labour shortage, many B.C. businesseshave been unable to fill job openings for months.

That's where Coasters Helping Coasters comes in. The group of nine golfing friends, including Coxford,initially came together to support two coastal businesses.

The group approached the SecheltDowntown Business Association to offer up their services and were matched with struggling businesses.

The volunteersare rolling up their sleevesand tackling four-hour shifts as servers, dishwashers, doing whatever they can to help.

WATCH |Retired seniors volunteering at restaurants that can't find staff:

Retired seniors volunteer at B.C. restaurants that cant find staff

3 years ago

Duration 2:57

Many restaurants in Sechelt, B.C., couldnt find enough staff for tourist season, so local retired seniors volunteered to help out and theyve learned some new skills while doing it.

According to volunteer Joe Sawer,the groupnow has25 volunteers and is helping out sevenrestaurants.

Tanya Lapsansky, owner of PKLSBurgers, says the help has saved her business. She said that as soon as she reopened the business after closing due to COVID-19, two people immediately quit.

"It's between opening my doors and closing them. So, that's what the volunteers have done for me, they let me keep the doors open," said Lapsansky.

Lapsanskysaid the possibility she can help others make it through tough times by giving them employmentkeeps her going. She has recently hired two new staff members but said the volunteers have made getting to this point possible.

Instead of being paid for their service, Coasters HelpingCoasters asked each establishment to donate their paycheques to Habitat for Humanity or the local food bank.

As of August 25, the group had raised $1,300, said Sawer.

Coxford says the volunteersare willing to lend a hand for however long it is needed but are looking forward to getting back to golfing.

"This is a temporary situation that we hope will be rectified by people coming forward and taking those jobs and we hope it's sooner than later because that's good for the economy, good for businesses, good for the community as a whole," saidCoxford.

"If I can hire people, I would definitely hire them in a second," said Lapsansky.