FALL RIVER: COVID19 couldn’t stop Halloween Hunger Hero superstar Sarah MacDonald-Miles from making sure those who need help from Feed N.S. go it.
With COVID19 limiting MacDonald-Miles from collecting her food for her annual Halloween food drive the normal way, and reducing the houses she visited to just neighbours of her Fall River Village home, she relied on the community to stop by the “Canoe on Concord.”
And they did in droves, so much so that she exceeded the 2019 total food collected by almost 60 pounds. In 2019, she collected 800 pounds of food. This year, it was 858 pounds.
“I think it’s amazing amount of support we’ve had this year because of COVID and not able to have schools, my Cadet group, or going around the community to collect the food,” said MacDonald-Miles. “It was solely the community helping us by coming and dropping the food to the canoe.”
Five years ago, in the first Halloween Hunger Hero food drive she collected 60 pounds of food. Now she has exceeded that by 800 pounds.
“It means a lot to be able to do that,” the Lockview High School student said. “I’m blown away by that fact. I’m speechless that we have been able to reach this amount of more than 800 pounds since year one.”
It wasn’t just MacDonald-Miles either. She had help from her parents, Vivian Collie and Paul MacDonald-Miles, her cousin from Enfield, and her grandmother and grandfather from the Onslow Mountain area.
“It means a lot that my family wants to support me in this endeavour,” said MacDonald-Miles. “For them (my cousin and grandparents) to come on out and help in-person, it meant a lot.”
There were a few people she wished to thank for their support, including Keough Lane Stables in Windsor Junction, who had a socially distanced Halloween get together and collected food; Sobeys Fall River (Mark Gouthro who had a truck full of food to donate); Scotian Shores, who delivered food and some buckets to put the food in; The Laker News for their continued sharing of her posts and helping volunteer at the food drive; the Fall River community who dropped off food while trick or treating on Halloween night.
She was asked what Feed N.S would think what they thought when they pull up to their Halifax facility with a vehicle packed with no room to spare of food.
“They have always been amazed every year that myself and Links of Love could collect what we do,” she said. “I think they are going to be blown away that I have this much food.”
MacDonald-Miles was asked if she ever wonders what the families and recipients of the food she collects thinks. She said she does.
“I’ve seen people through my time with Links of Love and seethe impact of dropping money I raise for other charities, but Feed N.S. is one of those things. You don’t see the impact there on people who are recipients,” she said. “It would be nice to hear from those families that do get it.”
