Paramedics are rushing to aid the city's hungry people this Christmas with the Red and White Hunger Fight.
The annual campaign is a food drive in partnership with Save-On-Foods. The paramedics will park an ambulance in front of the grocery store and collect whatever the consumers inside wish to donate on their way past. Over the seven years it has existed in Prince George, it has gone from dozens of boxes to hundreds of boxes of food and other household staples handed over to the St. Vincent de Paul Society just before Christmas.
"We are expanding this year a little bit. We are including the Hart," said paramedic Rob Pritchard, one of the cofounders of the local campaign. "This is the first year we will hit all four of the city's Save-On-Foods locations."
The ambulance will rotate through the Save-On-Foods locations on this schedule:
- Dec. 6 (Hart Mall) from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m.
- Dec. 7 (Parkwood) from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
- Dec. 13 (Spruceland) from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m.
- Dec. 14 (College Heights) from 10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
"We have learned over the years that there are certainly times when people are more active in shopping, so we are targeting those hours so we make it as convenient as possible for people to help out. We also hand out our wish list as well, the shopping list of items of greatest importance, and we have noticed that when we don't hand that out we really see a drop-off in the donations, so we know people are paying attention and really wanted to do the very best they can to help where the needs are greatest."
The grocers have joined the Red and White Hunger Fight tradition, too. Pritchard said a lot of dialogue has now happened with Save-On-Foods management over the years and they are stocking the main ingredients more abundantly during these food drive times.
"Our food drive has become a big foundation for the St. Vincent de Paul organization," said Pritchard. "Our food has really helped them with their Christmas hampers but also to last out the harsh part of the winter beyond the Christmas period. We have heard this year there has been a big rise in the number of seniors turning to them for food help, a disturbing increase, so we are mindful of that this year."
Since diet plays such a foundational role in overall health, promoting healthy eating and enabling proactive good health in less fortunate households is also part of the Red and White Hunger Fight mandate.
