There’s no excuse not to give, city firefighters say as they help kick off 30th London Food Bank spring drive
Firefighters Scott Young, Capt. Gary Martin, deputy Chief Dave Lazenby, Paul Schlinderer, Tina Sirka and St John Ambulance operations manager Jeff Lavigne take part in Friday’s launch of the London Food Bank’s 30th Spring Food Drive. (MORRIS LAMONT, The London Free Press)
London’s fire department cemented a 30-year relationship with the city’s food bank Friday through a gentle reminder to city residents.
“There should be no excuse for anybody not to be able to give,” deputy Chief Dave Lazenby said at the launch of the annual spring food drive.
“We’ve got 14 fire stations around the city so we hope that takes away any barriers people might have. There’s probably a fire station within five minutes of your home, so please, come out and donate.”
London Food Bank launched its 30th spring food drive with representatives of the fire department and St. John Ambulance, the two organizations that made collection and distribution of food possible from the start.
“It was a natural fit. We had to get things moved and we had the vehicles and the personnel,” recalled Peter Harding, both a captain with the fire department and a St. John Ambulance volunteer at the time.
St. John Ambulance, run completely by volunteers, is proud to remain a key part of the food drive, operations officer Jeff Lavigne said.
The organization collects food at grocery stores and brings it back to the food bank depot on Leathorne Street.
Volunteers Peter Van Daele, Rosemary Scott, 11, and John Van Daele, l-r, fill hampers with food on opening day of the Spring Food Drive at the London Food Bank on Friday April 7, 2017. (MORRIS LAMONT, The London Free Press)
