Man spends 24 hours in Toronto Denny's after losing bet, raises almost $6K for charity
At first, Juan Delgado agreed to spend 24 hours inside a Dundas St. Denny’s as a consequence of losing in his fantasy football league.
Delgado told CTV News Toronto Tuesday he joined the league as they were looking for a 12th person, and thought it’d be fun despite not having participated in years.
“I didn’t really take the penalty seriously, because I’m like, ‘They’re not actually going to make anybody go 24 hours at a Denny’s – that’s silly,’” he said. “But the debate on the [league’s] thread was crazy. They’re like, ‘For the integrity of the league, we must uphold our penalties.’”
“I realized I couldn’t get out of it, and then thought to myself, ‘Okay, this is gonna be 24 hours. It’s a waste of a day. What do I do to make it worthwhile?” he added.
After thinking of various “creative, silly ideas,” Delgado says it dawned on him to turn his penalty into a positive action and fundraise for a good cause. That’s when the ‘Making Denny’s Great Again’ fundraiser for Wagner Green YMCA was born.
“I was lucky enough to do a walkthrough of the Wagner Green YMCA in the summer, and I was just so impressed by the work that they do that when I was thinking of a charity or place to put the money towards, it just seemed to make sense,” Delgado said, noting the branch is also nearby the Denny’s on Dundas.
Juan Delgado with Nelson Borges, Director of Youth Outreach and Intervention at the YMCA of Greater Toronto. (Courtesy of Juan Delgado)
24 HOURS AT DENNY'S
After clearing the plan with the restaurant, Delgado kicked off his 24 hours at the breakfast chain on Saturday night, at around 8 p.m.
“I thought I would start the eating with something light, and kind of pace myself, you know, not to go too crazy. Well, the first thing I had was mozzarella sticks – and I’m lactose intolerant,” he said.
During his 24-hour stay, Delgado said he went on to dine on chicken tenders – “which I lovingly call chicken tendies” –, a smoothie in the middle of the night, a turkey sandwich, french toast, soup, hashbrowns, more chicken “tendies,” and a steak dinner to wrap up the event.
Delgado said his friends came over to support him throughout the night, including Run The Burbs star Andrew Phung, who dropped by with his son.
Outside of visits, Delgado said he only dozed off for about 45 minutes. He recalled running into the after-party crowd late on Saturday night and the Sunday morning brunch crowd, and says he also got to connect with restaurant staff, who gave him all his food and drink for free come the end of his stay.
Within the first 24 hours, Delgado raised $1,000.
Now, the fundraiser is sitting at $5,736, and Delgado hopes he can cross the $6,000 mark before the end of the week, when he plans on taking the page down.
“The fundraising aspect was beautiful, and the amount I raised was unbelievable, I’m still flabbergasted that the community was able to support in such a way, but the staff there also made it just that much better,” he said.
Nelson Borges, the Director of Youth Outreach and Intervention at Wagner Green YMCA, told CTV News Toronto in an emailed statement that it’s “amazing” to see how much support Delgado had received with the fundraiser, and that they are focused on creating more housing options for youth.
“When young people are ready to leave the shelter, these funds will allow us to secure many supplies that they need to transition to independent living and move into their new place,” Borges said.
“Also, donations allow us to provide more on-site programming focused on increasing their skills, building their confidence, preparing them to living independently, and building connections in the community," he added.
"What started off as a lost bet has transformed into something meaningful for the youth who find support at the Wagner Green YMCA.”
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Couple randomly attacked, 1 stabbed, by group of teens in Toronto, police say
A man has been transported to hospital after police say he was stabbed in a random attack carried out by a group of teens in Toronto on Friday night.
'My family doctor just fired me': Ontario patients frustrated with de-rostering
Dozens of Ontarians are expressing frustration in the province’s health-care system after their family doctors either dropped them as patients or threatened to after they sought urgent care elsewhere.
Michael Cohen: A challenging star witness in Donald Trump's hush money trial
He once said he would take a bullet for Donald Trump. Now Michael Cohen is prosecutors' biggest piece of legal ammunition in the former president's hush money trial.
Canada Post cracks down on Nunavut loophole to get free Amazon Prime shipping
Amazon's paid subscription service provides free delivery for online shopping across Canada except for remote locations, the company said in an email. While customers in Iqaluit qualify for the offer, all other communities in Nunavut are excluded.
Millions of Canadians have been exposed to potentially toxic chemicals, and they're not going anywhere
For decades, North Bay, Ontario's water supply has harboured chemicals associated with liver and developmental issues, cancer and complications with pregnancy. It's far from the only city with that problem.
As Israel pushes deeper into Rafah, Hamas regroups elsewhere in ungoverned Gaza
Israeli forces were battling Palestinian militants across the Gaza Strip on Sunday, including in parts of the devastated north that the military said it had cleared months ago, where Hamas has exploited a security vacuum to regroup.
Thousands of civilians evacuated from northeast Ukraine as Russia presses renewed border assault
Thousands more civilians have fled Russia's renewed ground offensive in Ukraine's northeast that has targeted towns and villages with a barrage of artillery and mortar fire, officials said Sunday.
Feds 'committed to doing more,' but minister offers no timeline for Canadian Disability Benefit boost
Amid significant criticism from advocates, Diversity, Inclusion and Persons with Disabilities Minister Kamal Khera is defending her government's long-promised, newly unveiled Canada Disability Benefit, calling the funds an "initial step," but without laying out a timeline for future expansion of the program.
RCMP boss expresses desire for new law to deal with threats against politicians
RCMP commissioner Mike Duheme says he wants the government to look at drafting a new law that would make it easier for police to pursue charges against people who threaten elected officials.