JASPER – Loyal supporters recently came together to help a beloved local entrepreneur and her business, Lynn’s Place, by raising $21,545 in only 25 hours through GoFundMe.
Lynn Wannop was on her way to a catering gig in Canmore when her truck broke down along the Icefields Parkway roughly two weeks ago.
“I was spiralling, got the phone call saying it was going to be, minimum, $17,000 upwards of $20,000 to repair the truck, and I didn’t know what I was going to do,” Wannop said.
Like many Jasper businessowners, Wannop has had a rough couple of years, struggling through COVID and then the Chetamon wildfire that led to a multiday power outage in 2022.
Wannop eventually decided to sell Coco’s Café to get out of debt and try something new. She bough a food trailer and leased a commercial food space at Jasper Bungalows. This space, however, was destroyed in the 2024 wildfire.
“I was doing about 600 loaves of bread a week for different businesses in town as well as for selling at the market for myself,” she said. “I bought the trailer four years ago just for fun to do festivals. It was never supposed to be my full-time gig.”
The recent truck breakdown meant Wannop has been unable to travel for catering, and her trailer has remained stationary at the pop-up village.
Her friend, Rowan Bell-Marusich, began the fundraising campaign after hearing about the truck breakdown. This was the first time she had ever organized a crowdfunding campaign and was surprised at how quickly they met their fundraising goal.
“But I’m not surprised in the sense that people want to help Lynn,” Bell-Marusich said. “Lynn has done a lot for a lot of people, whether it’s the Jasper community, whether it’s the Edmonton queer community, she’s just a very prominent and strong community member.”
Among Wannop’s many contributions to the community, she co-founded Jasper's Pride Festival, taught children and adults how to cook, fed the town two Christmas dinner—twice—and has donated to numerous causes.
“I don’t think that she ever imagined anything like this could happen, and I know that she is pretty endlessly grateful,” Bell-Marusich said. “It was refreshing to see good things happen to good people.”
Wannop thanked everyone for their support and reported that her truck should be repaired by the end of this week. She was also planning to throw a thank-you party for the people who donated in town.
“I’ve donated to crowdfunding, but to be part of it is pretty overwhelming,” she said. “All the things I do for the community, I do because I love doing, and I never expect anything in return.”
“I don’t really have anything to compare it to, but it just seemed pretty wild, and I’m pretty thankful,” she added.
Lynn’s Place is open daily from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the pop-up village along Connaught Drive. Supporters can follow Lynn’s Place on Instagram or Facebook.
