The brewer who became a war-zone volunteer.

John Graham holds fond memories of KCSS, key among them a grade 9 Geography trip to Leading Tickles, Newfoundland, and a team project on New Zealand for John McAlpine’s Geography class. Ill-prepared, John’s team opted for a ‘bread and circuses’ mismanagement style: they brought a lamb to class. Good to W.C. Fields’ axiom about the perils of working with children and animals, the lamb ran around the room, distracting all, including Mr. McAlpine, then peed on the floor. Where Geography influenced John’s firm conviction that travel is the best teacher, life and work preparation rests with John Campbell (grade 9 Tech Math) who accommodated for John’s learning style. To this day, John appreciates Mr. Campbell’s personal/professional investment.

John’s career path went in a gratifying direction – craft brewing. He got the creative notion to marry Art and Science to establish a micro-brewery. Research, courses, apprenticing with other brewers, and a site search by John and his life partner led them to an abandoned 1878 Methodist church in Campbellford, ON. That blank canvas became Church-Key Brewery, which sold its first beer in July of 2000. Committed to supporting his local community beyond employment, the Church-Key Brewing Company offers a rustic setting with whimsical touches as a venue for local musical talent.

At the height of the pandemic, seventeen days after Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, John’s outrage compelled him to act and make a tangible difference. In addition to managing his business through that the tough pressures of Covid, without hesitation, John rashly flew to Europe. Once there, he rented a van, then drove straight to the Ukrainian border — intent on contributing with humanitarian relief by assisting the disrupted supply chain.

Challenged by the limitations of language and the need to build trust among people under fire, he persevered. Starting a network, John brought supplies into the Ukraine; he also provided transport for citizens fleeing the conflict. This meant roundtrips, driving displaced Ukrainians to safety in Germany and Poland. When voluntarily collecting first aid supplies and warm clothing, John discovered the dollar cost in shipping textiles outweighed their dollar value. As such, he shifted his concentration to medical supplies. Appeals for cash donations helped to finance the van rental, repairs, and cost of fuel.

Despite natural anxieties over his safety held by family and friends, John made a second trip to Ukraine, and then a third; eventually, his humanitarian efforts spanned five trips in all. Families in extreme need became his refined focus: he ferried cancer patients to treatment; he provided rescue for autistic children and those too old and frail to cope with worsening conditions on the ground. Later tours sent him further into Ukraine, where he concentrated on moving refugees, transporting volunteers, and delivering donated food, pet, and medical supplies. As the situation in the Ukraine became full out war, John’s take-away experiences convinced him he can apply the knowledge he gained through his humanitarian efforts there to assist in other world locales, like Cuba for example, where dysfunction of the supply chain makes life hard and difficult.

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