On Friday, Dec. 13 members of several local volunteer fire departments came together to run the Extinguish the Hunger food drive at Save-On-Foods.
A collaboration between Save-On-Foods and the Lone Butte Volunteer Fire Department, the Deka Lake Volunteer Fire Department, the Watch Lake/North Green Lake Volunteer Fire Department, the Forest Grove Volunteer Fire Department and 100 Mile Fire Rescue, their goal was to raise money and food for the 100 Mile House Food Bank Society. Jonathan Grieve, Save-On-Foods assistant store manager and chief of the LBVFD, said at this time of year the needs of the community are more apparent than ever.
"Driving by the food bank on a pickup day pulls on your heartstrings when you see a line up of 200 vehicles from our local area," Grieve said. "In speaking with Danny Williams from the 100 Mile Food Bank, the last pick up saw over 200 vehicles and the line up seemed endless."
Grieve remarked that he has a soft spot for local food banks because when he was growing up his family was less fortunate and relied on the benefits of the local food bank. Christmas time was always hard but he recalled how much a drop-off from the food bank helped them feel the true meaning of Christmas.
That's why in his role as both a fire chief and manager he does his best to support the food bank by bringing people together to run fundraisers. During the day on Dec. 13, Save-On-Foods was offering 10 per cent off of all groceries for customer appreciation day while the fire departments were outside from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. to fill up their fire trucks with donations.
"By 4 p.m., all fire trucks were full of approximately $6,800 in groceries and the firefighter boots had collected another $3,175 dollars. In five hours a combined total of almost $10,000 was donated to the 100 Mile House Food Bank," Grieve said. "In my time working with Save-On-Foods in multiple locations, 100 Mile House and its surrounding areas citizens are by far the most generous I have seen."
Grieve said he wanted to thank each and every customer who shopped at Save-On-Foods that day and donated to the cause. He added he knows that thanks to this generosity they made the food bank's recipients Christmas extra special.
"What a wonderful community we live in," Grieve said. "Merry Christmas!"
