What does a West Lincoln firefighter do when there’s no parade to collect food for people during a pandemic? Set up a drive-thru event with the help of the local Timmies, of course.
“Since we aren’t able to collect food donations at the Santa Parade as we usually do, we decided we needed to find a new way to collect much-needed food for West Lincoln Community Care and hoped to make the event fun for the community at the same time,” said Tamara Clark, President of the West Lincoln Firefighters Association.
The West Lincoln Santa Claus Parade was cancelled earlier this fall because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Undaunted, the township’s firefighters decided to team up with Smithville Tim Hortons. They will collect food at a drive-thru event on Saturday, Dec. 12, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the West Lincoln Leisureplex in Smithville.
Organizers said they are setting up a short route for families to navigate on the way to the food drive-thru area where they can drop-off food staffed with volunteers. Donors will be able to say hello to Santa and drop off letters to be taken back to the North Pole.
The Smithville Tim Hortons will also be on location to hand out free hot chocolate. “We hope to collect enough food to fill up the entire back cab of our fire truck,” said Clark.
The drive-through event will take place at the LeisurePlex in Smithville (see map). Clark is urging attendees to enter off South Grimsby Road 6.
