Police were out in full force, locking up donations for the Cold Lake Food Bank through the annual Pack the Patrol Car (PC).
On Saturday, Dec. 3, the community pulled together to fill the shelves of the local food bank with 1,360-kilograms of food, while raising over $2,700 in cash donations for Cold Lake Victim Services.
“I know the food bank is struggling this year, so it's nice to see the community step up to the plate and help them out,” said community peace officer Robert Mercer.
Cold Lake Elementary School donated a full vehicle's worth of food, as well as their time, with one of their classes making a stop at the food bank last Monday to help sort through the donations and stock the shelves.
Phil Crump, director of the Cold Lake Food Bank, said the amount donated by the one-day event will likely cover one week's worth of groceries. The food bank is only open two days a week, and on average goes through approximately 2,000-kg of food in that time.
Having an event like Pack the PC helps fill their shelves, with a small portion of the donations being put towards Christmas Hampers.
“It's important that something like this happens throughout the year,” said Crump. “Christmas time is kind of the giving season, a great deal of giving is done from November through until the end of the year, but food banks are open 52 weeks of the year.”
Crump added the food bank is always looking for donations, no matter what time of year, especially since they go through about 8,000-kg per month.
Pack the PC was introduced to Cold Lake three years ago by Mercer, who had heard about the program through a RCMP member based out of his hometown in Newfoundland.
“They did it at their local grocery store and it went over really well,” he explained. “So we said, why don't we try it out here in Cold Lake.”
After the first year went well, they decided to keep Pack the PC going with the help of other local law enforcement and community organizations.
“We have all come together as one for the better.”
Officers are sometimes met in the worst of circumstances, so opportunities like this allow for the public to see them in a different light.
“Including all of the law enforcement gives people the opportunity to come out and converse with us, and it gives them an opportunity to see another side that they may have never seen before,” said Mercer. “They get to see us giving back to the community if they have only seen us in a negative role.”
Crump added, “It's incredible. It's just amazing, because an organization like the food bank has no income. We don't have anything; we just have what the community provides for us to give to people in need in our community, and the community of Cold Lake is unbelievably awesome.”
