Residents of Parry Sound are helping front-line forest firefighters from 80 km away.
The Parry Sound 33 fire is nearly an hour’s drive away, but some 140 firefighters are getting their grocery orders filled through a network of volunteers organized by the local Sobeys grocery store.
Matthew Derouin is the manager of the store and when he was told by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry that his store would be used for re-supply of firefighters food and toiletries he was excited to help. Then he saw the personalized orders coming, created by the firefighters out in the field and brought back to the base in Britt. From there the orders were forwarded to Sobeys and Derouin realized he had a bit of a problem.
So he went to the store’s Facebook page and reached out for volunteers and his problem was solved.
Derouin says the orders are typically sent early in the morning and by 1:00pm. He has his volunteer shopping army picking the items off the shelves. He says people are just pleased to be helping in some way with the forest firefighting effort, even though it is not that close to the town.
“The volunteers that are here in the store are personally shopping for the firefighters, the men, and women out in the field,” said Derouin. And despite the big task facing those on the front line, it doesn’t mean the little things are forgotten. “A firefighter was celebrating his birthday on July 31st and so we donated a cake and packed it up for the order for four and it was sent by helicopter to them in the field,” Derouin chuckled.