‘I’m inspired by trailblazers’: Founder of free seniors’ grocery bingo named Co-op Community Champion

FORT ST. JOHN, B.C. — An entrepreneur who wants to give back to the seniors community in Fort St. John has been named June’s Co-op Community Champion. 

Jocelyn Eisert, owner and chief executive officer at Bizzybody Enterprises, holds a free, weekly bingo game for seniors in Fort St. John. 

The twist – all the prizes are grocery items. 

“I’m actually very honoured and humbly surprised,” she said. 

Eisert got the idea after driving through downtown Fort St. John five years ago and spotting older people in a long line to a food bank.

“I thought to myself, ‘oh my God, not only have these people trailblazed where we are in life, in society right now, but now they’re starving and they’re waiting in line for a cup of soup – I have to do something,’” Eisert said. 

Now, Bizzybody’s office is packed for the event on Friday mornings.

Eisert explained how it works: “When they win at bingo, they actually get a dice and they roll the dice, and then we have corresponding shelves of one to six.

“Whatever dice they roll, they get a grocery item from that numbered shelf, and at the end of the day, everyone’s going home with usually an item or two.”

The event is sponsored by various businesses around Fort St. John, which covers the $300 cost of the grocery prizes. Eisert credits her colleague Stefanie Dillabough with ensuring the bingo goes off without a hitch on a weekly basis. 

The youngest of 17 siblings, Eisert first studied to be a nurse before switching careers into business in the mid-1990s.

Started in 2008, Bizzybody is a learning, development and consulting firm providing solutions for individuals, communities, businesses and organizations.

Eisert, who came to Fort St. John from Winnipeg in 2004, says her consultations are unique to each client and are designed to help people in a “trauma-informed” way. 

This could mean helping someone get back into the workforce after being incarcerated or who is suffering with addictions.

She is also a director of the Peace Region Métis Community Association.

“I’m so inspired by trailblazers,” said Eisert. “That’s really what I am. I see an old person, and I just want to help them and open the door.

“I guess that’s probably because my parents died when I was 17, and I was orphaned. So I’m thinking my parents would be old now, but I don’t have them, so I befriend all these old people and I just want to put spaghetti in all the cupboards.” 

Eisert’s nomination to be Co-op Community Champion reads: “Whether they need a resume, a business plan, a business name search session or just want a safe space to talk, Jocelyn always says yes and makes space.

“She is selfless when it comes to seniors, hosting a free grocery bingo for seniors who have truly become friends.”

The seniors’ bingo is held every Friday from 10 a.m. to noon at Bizzybody Enterprises’ offices on 101st Avenue. 

Congratulations to Eisert for being named June’s Co-op Community Champion. Each month, the winner is featured on Energeticcity.ca and receives up to $100 in vouchers from the Co-op. 

Anyone looking to nominate a community-minded person who deserves recognition can go to Energeticcity.ca.