HALIFAX, Nova Scotia – It’s not every day politicians ring up your purchases at the local convenience store, but that was the scene in Halifax and throughout Nova Scotia on Wednesday during the Atlantic Convenience Store Association’s (ACSA) Convenience Store Day.

ACSA President Mike Hammond described the event to Canada’s Global News: “Today is the day where we get different personalities to come in and work behind the counter to get a sense of what it is that we do.”

Halifax city councillor Matt Whitman took part for the second year in a row, also joined by Megan Leslie, an MP from Halifax .

Whitman told Global News: “This small business is key to this neighborhood, it’s probably the backbone … we need to let these convenience stores and these communities know they’re important to us.”

During the event, stores collected donations for the Children’s Wish Foundation — and for every 20 minutes a politician worked, the store itself made a contribution.

NACS launched a similar initiative this month called NACS In Store. Read more about it here.