Lights and sirens for a good cause

Faces will be pressed against windows early next week as residents in three High Country communities keep watch for fire trucks.

Black Diamond and Turner Valley firefighters will hit the streets in Black Diamond on Nov. 7 and Turner Valley on Nov. 8 from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. to collect non-perishable food items for the Oilfields Food Bank. The Longview Fire Department will collect food in its community on Nov. 7.

“We will have our lights on so everyone knows we are out and about,” said Jamie Kline, a firefighter with the Black Diamond Fire Department. “Every year the towns step up and we have such overwhelming support with the food drive.”

Kline said about 10 fire trucks will be cruising the streets in Black Diamond and Turner Valley, trying to reach every household.

“It’s quite a masterful organization getting all the streets covered by having the trucks assigned to different streets and having shuttles go to the trucks when they get full and take the food to the church,” she said. “The towns are getting bigger.”

Firefighters will go door-to-door with local Scouts to collect the food items, Kline said.

Volunteers with pick-up trucks then transport the food to the Oilfields Food Bank in the basement of the United Church in the Valley in Turner Valley.

“Based on the 10 years that I’ve been doing this, whether it’s been good or bad times, the towns are incredibly generous,” she said. “I’m optimistic we will see the same sort of compassion and help we’ve seen in the past.”

In the event a fire truck doesn’t make it to a house or a homeowner is away on collection night they can leave their donation on the step, take it to their local fire hall or bring it to the food bank Tuesday afternoons between 1 p.m. and 3 p.m.

“We will do our best to reach every household,” Kline said. “The last couple of years have been getting tougher and tougher in Alberta and more people are relying on food banks to feed their families.”

The Longview Fire Department will go to the more than 100 homes in the village to collect food, said deputy fire chief Aaron Lyons, adding they get help from the local youth group.

“The community has been really supportive and gets a really good turnout,” he said. “Usually everybody that’s in town knows about it and they’re ready for us. It’s for a good cause.”

Glenn Chambers, president of the Oilfields Food Bank, said the food drive is the main collection of food for the year and often keeps the shelves stocked for eight months.

Last year’s drive brought in 5,000 pounds of food, which is pretty typical, he said.

“We have a sense that it will be down, just given the economy situation the way it is,” he said.

“People in the area are very generous and they will certainly give what they can.”

Chambers said the need for food last summer was fairly low, but it’s since been increasing.

“I sense that there’s a lot of seasonal jobs that are coming to a close,” he said.

The Oilfields Food Bank distributes food hampers to High Country residents in need once a week and is currently collecting applications for its Christmas hamper program. Those looking to apply must fill out a form in the church basement Tuesdays between 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. The deadline to apply is Dec. 7.

Chambers said volunteers distributed 105 Christmas hampers last year, which is comparable to past years.

“A lot of times the hampers that we fill are not necessarily people that have come to the food bank during the year,” he said.

“It’s just people at that time of the year just need a helping hand so that’s how we do it.”

Food bank volunteers have distributed 292 food hampers so far this year, which Chambers said is a 30 per cent increase over the previous two years. Thirty-six per cent of those recipients were first time users of the food bank, he said.

Meeting the demand in the High Country region has not been a problem with help from Food Banks Alberta, the Okotoks Food Bank and donations from the public, whether it be collections by schools and service groups or boxes in local businesses or people who donate vegetables from their gardens, said Chambers.

“Our needs are being met,” he said. “Some days we don’t know how, but it just seems to happen. It’s a blessing.”

Among the items the food bank is especially in need of is peanut butter, jam and condiments like ketchup and mustard, Chambers said.

“The food bank really appreciates the support we’ve had throughout the years and we look forward to meetings the needs of the community in the future,” he said.