Every day, paramedics with the Lanark County Paramedic Services (LCPS) care for our community. Recently, they did so in a different way. On December 12th and 13th throughout Lanark County, more than a dozen paramedics and their families held their annual “Fill an Ambulance with Food” drives in Almonte, Carleton Place, Smiths Falls, and Perth.
And the results are impressive. Across the four communities, 142 boxes of food were collected, (up from 110 last year) which was enough to fill a 5-tonne truck. In addition, $5,027.90 was raised for local food banks.
“Thank you to our paramedics for their continued commitment to our local communities. Special thanks to organizer Jason Tunks for his leadership, and thanks to all of our Paramedic volunteers: David Mullin, Lisa Popplewell, Crystal Lamadeleine, Tasha Daye, Sam Christopher, Clint Allan, Eric Ray, Jerry Zwicker, Trevor Neil, Jared Towns, and Marty McKittrick,” said Chief Paramedic Travis Mellema. “We are also grateful to all of the people of Lanark County who donated food and money to ensure that families have food for the upcoming Christmas holidays.”
Grateful thanks to our other supporters: Organizer Chris Craig, RCL Automotive; Scott Fleming, Rideau Home Hardware Building Centre with his 5-tonne truck; Hugh Colton, Hinton Auto Group and previous organizer; and Tracey Stevens, Rideau Home Hardware Building Centre.
The LCPS provides emergency response service for an area encompassing almost 3,000 square kilometres with a population of 70,000. It responds to approximately 25,000 calls for service each year.