VANCOUVER — There’s a Jewish grocer on Vancouver Island who’s determined to make a difference in his community.

Leon Zetler, owner of Aubergine Specialty Foods, has shelves stocked with South African delicacies, kosher food and unusual, hard-to-find products such as Vij’s curries from Vancouver, heirloom starter plants, Cold Comfort ice cream sandwiches and Vanilla Coke.

His 500-square-foot store has become a focal point not just for South African expats and Jews, but for Victoria’s Fernwood neighbourhood, too.

Zetler feels a strong connection to Fernwood, an area near downtown, as well as to those among his customers who are clearly in financial need.

“I see a lot of people who don’t have money,” he says. “They come in with debit cards and the amounts don’t go through until they start removing items from their shopping list. The other day, I had a customer come in who really wanted a steak, but she was $3 short.”

When that happens, Zetler usually tells the customer to take the items and pay him back when he or she has the money.

“Some pay me back, and some don’t, but it’s all fine,” he says. “I don’t want people in my neighbourhood going hungry. I know times are tough, and a lot of people are struggling. In the big scheme of things, giving away a few dollars here and there won’t kill me.”

Helping out and building community are two characteristics that define Zetler and his corner-store presence at Aubergine.

He participates in Fernwood Bites, the Fernwood Neighbourhood Resource Group’s (FNRG) annual fundraiser, donating products to some 400 ticketholders.

“He’s the only grocer who participates, and he does it because he really wants to support our work in Fernwood,” says FNRG executive director Lee Herrin.

Zetler and Herrin are in the midst of discussions about a project to help beautify Fernwood Square, wherein Zetler hopes to donate planters and plants.

Last year, in November and December, he started a Feed Fernwood fundraising program, collecting money for neighbourhood programs.

Aubergine hosts monthly socials for the ex-South African community of Vancouver Island, and an annual South African barbecue at the store attracts a crowd of up to 120. Many of them are doctors –there are a whopping 146 South African-born physicians practising on the island.

“The get-togethers promote camaraderie in the community, and they’re great for networking and socializing,” Zetler says.

Steve Blumberg, an expat South African who arrived in Canada 23 years ago, is a regular customer who loves attending the social events.

“We’ll go over to the store for boerewors, a special kind of South African sausage, and after that, a whole group of South African expats will go next door to the Fernwood Inn for a beer,” he says.

“Before Leon arrived, there was no one who brought us together like that, and I’ve really enjoyed the connection.”

Zetler and his wife moved from the southern tip of Africa to Vancouver in April 2000 to start a new life in a city where crime wouldn’t be part of their daily existence, as it was back home.

Ironically, not long after arriving, they experienced a home invasion, an incident that shook their confidence, but left them, for the most part, physically unscathed.

It was the post-traumatic stress that rattled Zetler the most. The break-in was a catalyst for the couple’s move to Victoria, where they rented a home and started over once again.

Originally a strawberry farmer in the Stellenbosch region of South Africa, verdant wine country not far from Cape Town, Zetler long dreamed of opening a corner grocery store.

In his mind’s eye he wanted it to be the kind of place where he would recognize customers, know them by name and stock the kind of food they wanted to eat.

When a 100-year-old building in Fernwood came up for sale, he bought it and opened shop.

Many of the South African foods Zetler carries have Canadian equivalents, “but they don’t taste the same as the ones we know from back home,” Blumberg says.

“Sometimes you just want a taste of home and the comfort that comes with the familiar.”

Blumberg is aware of Zetler’s work in the community, and it’s only one of the reasons he goes out of his way to support this independent grocer.

“He’s really added, we think, to the Fernwood community and to Victoria,” Blumberg says.

“At Aubergine, Leon has really created something special.”