What wouldn’t first responders do to help people in the community? The North Grenville Fire Service and Grenville County detachment of the Ontario Provincial Police faced off again this year in support of the Salvation Army Food Bank in Kemptville.
The two departments teamed up with Community Living North Grenville for its annual food drive. The friendly competition — to see whether the OPP or NGFS could collect the most food — ran throughout the month of May and a few weeks into June.
The tally was announced on Tuesday, with CLNG collecting 687 pounds, followed by the OPP with 285 pounds and NGFS with 130 pounds — for a total of 1,102 pounds of food donated to the Salvation Army.
Kaitlyn Utman, CLNG direct support professional, called it “our biggest year” and thanked the local firefighters and police officers for participating.
“This means the world to Community Living,” she added. “We’re always looking to better our relationships with our community partners and they recognize that and they’re always willing to jump on board and lend a hand when they can. It’s just a fun way for us to all get together and give back to our community.”
Representatives from all three organizations volunteered to get a pie in the face for the cause.
Const. Dave Holmes said that CLNG is an “important community partner.”
“The cause itself — raising donations for the Salvation Army — is just huge, and I think that people don’t fully understand how important the Salvation Army is to the community of Kemptville and surrounding area that they serve,” he explained. “The need, no doubt, has increased year over year and we do everything we can to support every family in need.”
Cale Rowan, fire prevention and protection captain, said the NGFS is “committed to helping the community and working with partners.”
“And these are great events to help raise food for people who are in need of it,” he continued. “And it’s a good time too.”