Mel Boutilier, Halifax humanitarian and Order of Canada recipient, dead at 92

Mel Boutilier, a community leader and humanitarian who started food bank programs that have helped feed tens of thousands of Nova Scotians, has died. He was 92.

Boutiler died Tuesday evening from complications related to a rare form of blood cancer that was diagnosed in January, according to a statement from his family.

Boutilier led a busy life. Not only did he start the Metro Food Bank Society, which later became Feed Nova Scotia, but he also founded the Parker Street Food and Furniture Bank and Skills Development Centre in Halifax.

In a statement on Wednesday, Parker Street said it was mourning the loss of its founder and called him a "giant of a man with a heart of gold" who "will always be remembered as a man with a great love for those in need."

"Mel loved saying, 'Great things are happening!" But the truth is, he made great things happen for his community. He was loving and lovable, and to me his greatest accomplishment was his ability to humbly help everyone without any reservations," Sydney Mogae, board chair for Parker Street, said in the statement.

Since 2015, Boutilier served as executive director of the Metro Care and Share Society's Scholars Program, which assisted students in attending university, according to his family's statement. 

In an interview with CBC News in 2018, Boutilier's wife, Thelma, said her husband thrived on helping others. 

"If someone has a need, he can't ignore it," she said. "I've been working and supporting him in that because I was dedicated to what he was doing and he was doing what he wanted to do."

Boutilier was born in 1928 in Seabright, N.S., to a fishing family with 10 children.

Boutilier knew hunger during his childhood, said Robert Wright, a social worker who considered Boutilier his mentor and a second father. 

"As a very, very young child, there's a story that he kind of stood up and made a little podium out of boxes and made a speech to his stuffed animals and toys, and said: 'When I grow up I'm going to make it so that no one knows hunger anymore.' And he lived with that burning passion inside of himself his entire life," Wright told CBC's Information Morning.

Boutilier worked for the Department of National Defence servicing heating and cooling systems. He also ran an excavation business with his younger brother.

In 1974, Boutilier left the federal government and a few years later sold the business and decided to dedicate himself to being a full-time volunteer.

As a volunteer, he built organizations that helped those in need and continue to operate today. 

"He's never been able to walk past someone in need. And he's had a really keen ability to both see needs where no one else could see them and then find ways to meet those needs," said Wright. 

"He really was just a ball of energy and he was single minded when he was involved in something."

Boutilier was recognized numerous times for his contributions.

He received an honorary diploma from the Nova Scotia Community College (2006), the Order of Nova Scotia (2009), the Order of Canada (2010) and an honorary doctorate in civil law from Saint Mary's University (2017).

Due to the restrictions of COVID-19, no plans have yet been made to celebrate his life.