Minto’s only grocery store might have been destroyed by fire earlier this month but the community spirit is thriving.
The village of about 2300 hundred people suffered the blow back on June 5 when the Foodland went up in flames. The nearest grocery store is in Chipman, which is about 20 kilometres away or an approximately 25 minute drive. Since the fire, efforts have been underway to help the residents get groceries.
Mayor Don Gould, who has lived in the community since 1968, says they have set up a group of volunteers to take seniors and others to get groceries in Chipman, local stories have brought in extra milk, bread, and canned goods and they’ve arranged for vendors to come in and sell products a couple days a week.
“I’m assuming that friends, neighbours and family are taking care of most of the people because we really haven’t had a lot of calls,” says Gould. “We’re set up with probably 30 volunteers willing to take their cars and haul people but we haven’t been getting a lot of requests.”
The clean-up of the Foodland site is underway and they’re waiting for word from Foodland to see whether they will be putting up a temporary building. Gould says Foodland is committed to having a presence in Minto, though they don’t know yet what exactly that will be.
Gould says he wants to say thank you to all of the volunteers who have lent a helping hand.
“We’re a resilient community, we’ve had situations before where we’ve had to come together and we always do,” says Gould. “People here as I say are empathetic and just willing to donate and willing to help people when they’re in need.”
(Photo credit: Kyle Patrick Powers)
