BGC Canada -Support Young People

When he was 6, Nelson Lang discovered something in his backyard that would transform his life. His house backed right onto the Eastview Boys and Girls Club (now the Boys and Girls Club of Durham) and it became his home away from home.

“It kept me out of trouble and kept me going to the right place,” says Lang, who moved to Oshawa with his brother and father after his parents separated when he was 5.

“My dad was working a lot and then I was on my own at 16 because he kicked me and my brother out. In Grade 11, I was living at a buddy’s house, trying to get through school.”

Even then, the Club was always there for him, teaching Lang the life lessons one typically learns at home.

“You can go down a bad path or a good path and it’s up to you which path you decide.”

Lang chose a good path.  He worked part-time at a pizzeria as he finished high school and later opened up one of his own when he was just 22.  But national pizza chains were beginning to expand and dominate and Lang began to think it was time for something healthy and different in a competitive fast-food market.

Searching for the answer, Lang and his business partner were inspired by Toronto’s culinary mosaic and envisioned combining diverse ethnic foods into one concept. Their goal was to make and serve great food with love and when they found a lease in Kingston, Ontario, close to the university, the first Pita Pit restaurant was opened.

“The passion in the beginning was just to make sure the one store did really well. Then it just started to snowball; there was so much interest in it,” Lang says. “In seven years, we’d opened up 200 stores—it just exploded.”

The Pita Pit franchise continues to grow and opened its 500th store in July 2014, with restaurants in far flung places like Australia, Dubai and India. Lang says he remains true to his vision: serving healthy, quality sandwiches in a fast-food market with good people to run each location.

Now a successful businessman with a global company, Nelson reflects on what he learned while growing up with the Boys and Girls Club and credits learning the value of teamwork.

“You learn to play together as a team or as a unit, or you don’t win. And that’s no different in life.”

The Club remained a constant for Lang growing up, no matter what changed around him. He remembers one staff member, Neil Keilans, as “an amazing man and mentor” who stayed in touch with Lang and years later, attended Lang’s wedding.

Now, with four daughters of his own, Nelson is grateful for the “good, safe environment” the Club provided for him. “As I look back, I hope that my kids can be in the same kind of environment the Club gave me.”