Great community partners, hardworking volunteers, and hundreds of bags of food

On Wednesday morning, Food Banks Alberta, recognizing the increased need in Whitecourt as evacuees from Fox Creek descended on the community, reached out to the Whitecourt Food Bank to see what they could do to help. Director Lori Coffey accepted the help offer and listed what resources were needed. The only issue was the amount of food incoming would be more than they could handle with their van.

“I had nowhere to put that or sort it,” explained Coffey. A call to Matthew Joyal, the Freight Operations Manager at Whitecourt Transport, solved her issues in seconds. “He literally saved the day. He is an amazing human being.” Coffey said she explained the situation to Joyal and that he offered to go to Edmonton, pick up the food and bring it back to Whitecourt.

The help didn’t stop there. “I told him we would pay to pick up the stuff in the city, and he said no way. He went to all the places, picked up all the food, and brought it to Whitecourt for free! He had to go to three different places to pick it up. Now, they are unloading it for us and letting us use their floor space in the bay to sort it. Now, that’s how you do community!”

Roughly twenty volunteers, including coaches from Whitecourt Gymnastics and a couple of their athletes, and families from Whitecourt and Fox Creek joined Coffey and Roxanne Grumbach, Fox Creek Food Bank Coordinator, to sort and pack as many bags as possible.

“We’ve lived here for almost seven years, and we’ve got three kids, and we are pretty immersed in the community with hockey, football, and soccer. We love being here. It seemed natural to help out, and it’s a great cause,” said Joyal. “Many people, at some point in their lives, rely on the food bank, whether they admit it or not. It’s one of the most fundamental, important things that the community has to offer. We fully support it. I do personally, and the company does. Lori is full of energy and great to work with, and we will help her out anytime she needs it.”

Joyal said the roles could easily be reversed. “We were so close to us needing it here in Whitecourt. We didn’t get evacuated yet, but it’s always possible. It’s different to see this in here and not freight, but I’m floored with how everybody is working so hard and is targeted and goal-oriented and knows what they are doing. I’m pretty proud.”

Joyal has worked at Whitecourt Transport for five years and has been in the Freight Operations Manager position for a year and a half. “It goes to the core values of the company. This company has been around for about 70 years, and I’m very lucky to be part of it for the last five years. They’ve always been involved in different things. So, I’m not inventing anything new; it’s just continuing the pattern. We have extremely supportive owners; when we brought this idea up with them, they didn’t hesitate. They said go for it.” Joyal said they would continue playing a role. “We will do it again and again if we need to.”

Coffey said she was beyond grateful. “This right now would not be happening if not for Whitecourt Transport. There’s no way. They enabled the pickup and are giving us space to go through it and pack it up. People are going to get food thanks to them stepping up like they did. Our goal right now is to make sure 600 people get to eat for five days. After five days, we will re-evaluate what we need to do.”

For Grumbach, working to help her Fox Creek community while she deals with the stress of leaving her home, just as everyone else has, watching the support come together was touching. She had worked long hours at the Millar Centre since her arrival, helping answer questions and linking people to resources. “I think people are going to be grateful. Many people coming to the Millar Centre to eat have been concerned about buying groceries and aren’t able to cook in their hotel rooms, so having this food that they can eat without a lot of preparation, will help.”

Bags included water bottles, granola bars, cereal, crackers and fruits and vegetables. “It is a big undertaking, and it’s a lot of food that’s going out to people. Even people who were not regular food bank users back in Fox Creek may not have had the financial means or weren’t prepared with their banking situations to have extra groceries over and above what they already had in their houses, so it affects everybody. Everybody is going to benefit from this because everybody gets hungry.”

Evacuees could pick up a bag at the AJMC each day. “This way, they will have a bag of food to take with them and will be able to eat throughout the day and feel more secure about how much food they have,” explained Grumbach.

She added that the support from Whitecourt and Fox Creek businesses in keeping suppers happening each day has been tremendous. “Those dinners have taken the pressure off families for where they will eat that day. A huge thank you to all the Whitecourt and Fox Creek companies that have stepped up to do that.” She said she was also grateful for Coffey’s support. “It’s so generous. I’m so happy.”

While sorting food at Whitecourt Transport, Coffey was nearly brought to tears when a donation was handed to her. “As we are here working, Stitch and Time showed up to give us $1000 because they figured that we could use it while we are going through this. The fact that it wasn’t asked for, and Tyler Perrin just showed up and handed me money, is incredible. That’s this community! Whitecourt is awesome!”

Perrin, whose daughter was one of the youths helping pack bags, said those who can help should help. He also said that it’s important to get the youth involved too. “It’s nice to help, especially when other communities are in need like this. Whitecourt always seems to come through, and it’s nice to be part of that.”