REGINA -- A group of volunteers is raising money to give back to Regina's frontline workers that have felt the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Before the pandemic, grabbing a quick coffee or bite to eat in downtown Regina was a daily ritual for some. Many businesses in the city's core have had to adapt over the past year, as much of their clientele has been working from home.

"One of the places that we'd often go to was The Green Spot [Café] and as we started to return to the office, we could see the impact [COVID-19] was having on them as a local business and as a family with much fewer people coming by,” Krystal Kolodziejak, the Campaign Organizer for Spot a Hero said.

While the group saw a need to support their favourite spot downtown, they also wanted to find a way to give back to front line workers.

"We see fewer hearts in peoples windows and fewer people outside banging pots and pans or the drive-bye’s during the shift changes, so we were trying to think of a way to kind of bridge between the two," she said.

Kolodziejak and her six friends came up with the idea for the Spot a Hero campaign, which is a crowd funding project for the month of April.

"We approached Sunshine and Gary at The Green Spot (Café) and they were more than willing to help and also wanted to be a part of saying thank you.” Kolodziejak said.

“So for every six dollars that's donated by the public, they're then topping it up with another four dollars to then have a voucher created that's good for two cinnamon buns and a small coffee."

So far the group has raised almost $3,600, and they’ve already started giving out vouchers to some school principals and other essential workers.

"We did stop by the COVID vaccination centre by appointment and dropped off vouchers for them and included a letter of thank you," she added

The goal is to raise $5,000 this month, but the group knows that will only give a few workers the treats. They’re hoping others will take on the challenge in May.

“We hope that it inspires others to continue to thank the front line workers for their efforts and then as well to look at ways to continue to support local businesses,” she said.

While The Green Spot Café didn’t want to be a part of the interviews, they say they're proud to help with the campaign.