Paramedics are flashing the red and white lights on their way to help the constant emergency of hungry Prince George families.
BC Ambulance Service paramedics are heading to the scene of their fifth annual "Red and White Hunger Fight" campaign. They will have an ambulance parked at participating grocery stores with the patient doors open. As shoppers exit the stores they can help fill the ambulance with grocery items that will stock the shelves of St. Vincent de Paul.
"We significantly exceeded $10,000 worth of groceries last year," said co-organizer Rob Pritchard. "We are hoping to at least meet that this year. We have had some great responses from the public and our paramedics really enjoy giving back to the community and getting to see the results. We didn't expect to see this kind of response, but Prince George has a well-earned reputation for giving and helping, and we get to see that in a special way. In past years we sometimes had people wheel up with entire buggies full of groceries, and so many people drop one or two items off as they came out of the store which adds up fast."
Last year they had to unload the ambulance several times during the grocery store shifts. St. Vincent de Paul would send a truck over to offload the food when the ambulance got near capacity, except the final donation of the day which paramedics would haul over themselves in the brimming ambulance.
"It is what we do - we see people in our community who need our help, so we formed a plan and we responded as best we could," Pritchard said. "We are starting to become part of the culture at Christmastime in Prince George, and that is helpful to the cause. We are very grateful for the public's support of their fellow citizens, and our efforts to bring food to St. Vincent de Paul. We look forward to meeting the public again this Christmas season."
The paramedics will have the ambulance stationed at four collection sessions.
- Dec 2. from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. at Spruceland Save-On-Foods;
- Dec. 3 from 10:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Parkwood Save-On-Foods
- Dec. 9 from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. at College Heights Save-On-Foods
- Dec. 10 from 10:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. at College Heights Save-On-Foods
Anyone who cannot make it down to any of these "Red and White Hunger Fight" shifts can drop donations off directly at St. Vincent de Paul, located at 2nd Avenue and Dominion Street.
