South Gulf Fire Rescue collects food donations in coolers
Patrick Foy and the rest of the volunteer firefighters at South Gulf Fire Rescue check the coolers every night for non-perishables. Then, they gather what the community left and bring it to Two Fish once a week.
The food drive started about a week ago, and Foy said it is off to a great start.
“It’s taking advantage of the situation where one of two things happen,” he said. “One, somebody’s shopping for that week, and they say ‘you know what? I’m going to pick up a couple of extra things.’ And then number two is the person who came in on vacation and says ‘wow! We just bought way too much.”
Foy explained that the fire department has long been considering doing a food drive to help local organizations. The figured the holiday season, with heightened tourism and heightened generosity, would be a good time to get it up and running.
So, they approached local food distributed Two Fish, which is run by the United Methodist Church, with their idea, hoping they could provide some guidance.
“It’s a matter of convenience. Anybody can drop off at Two Fish any time they want,” Foy said. “The nice thing about the fire station is it’s 24-7, seven days a week, because those coolers will be out there.”
At both of their South Gulf fire stations, the fire department has set up coolers where residents and visitors can leave food any time of day and it will be protected from the elements.
“Let’s face it,” Foy said. “If you’re on the cape, pretty much if you’re on Indian Pass or 30A, you’re going somewhere near, at least Station One, all the time. If you’re on the cape, you can’t go in or go out without passing by one of our stations.”
Because they lack refrigeration, South Gulf Fire Rescue is requesting that only unopened, non-perishable items be left in the coolers. Those with unopened, perishable food (like meats, dairy or produce) that they would like to donate are encouraged to drop it off at Two Fish directly.
The food drive will run through Jan. 2, 2022.
Meet the Editor
David Adlerstein, The Apalachicola Times’ digital editor, started with the news outlet in January 2002 as a reporter.
Prior to then, David Adlerstein began as a newspaperman with a small Boston weekly, after graduating magna cum laude from Brandeis University in Waltham, Massachusetts. He later edited the weekly Bellville Times, and as business reporter for the daily Marion Star, both not far from his hometown of Columbus, Ohio.
In 1995, he moved to South Florida, and worked as a business reporter and editor of Medical Business newspaper. In Jan. 2002, he began with the Apalachicola Times, first as reporter and later as editor, and in Oct. 2020, also began editing the Port St. Joe Star.