THUNDER BAY - On one of the busiest days for grocery stores, customers filled their carts with food for Easter dinner, but many bought a little extra to help fill an ambulance, too.
On Saturday, St. John Ambulance and St. Thomas Church hosted its annual Fill an Ambulance Food Drive at all three Metro store locations.
“I think it’s a pretty known fact how many people there are in this city who don’t have the food they necessarily need,” said Mathew Lesnick, a volunteer first responder with St. John Ambulance who was collecting donations at the Arthur Street Metro on Saturday.
By the end of the day, all three ambulances were filled from floor to celiing with food donations. Metro stores provided pre-packaged bags for people to purchase that could be donated as well.
“Typically this Metro is the busiest,” Lesnick said. “But we are at a point where we can’t put anymore in and what we’ve been told is our other two ambulances are filled too.”
Lesnick added that this year there has been a lot of monetary donations as well and one location alone can bring in more than $700.
This is the fourth year the Fill an Ambulance Food Drive has been held and all the food and money donated supports the Family Giving Centre, which offers a foodbank, a clothing boutique, housewares, and a toy closet for families in need.
“To actually have the volunteers that we have and the Family Giving Centre that has so any families coming to them, people are pretty open to donating towards the food banks and food drives,” Lesnick said.
