HALIFAX – In the spirit of giving this holiday season, Halifax firefighters were handing out sandwiches to the less fortunate in the downtown area on Sunday.
The firefighter who came up with the idea had a very personal reason for doing it.
Firefighters arrived at the Kempt Road Subway restaurant in the morning to pick up 100 sandwiches for distribution. They added chocolate bars to the bags back at station 3 on West Street.
Organizer and firefighter Joel Doyle was inspired by his late uncle, who lived on the street.
“Chris Doyle was better known as the Clyde Street pirate. He used to be the one with the one patch, ” said Doyle. “He used to sit outside the Clyde Street liquor store and collect donations for the deaf community because he was deaf and blind in one eye.”
Doyle says his late uncle never received any recognition and he wanted to do something in his memory.
“I kind of miss him,” said Doyle. “There’s a lot of people that live on the streets so I said this Christmas, I want to do something different.”
Doyle collected $700 from friends and co-workers to buy a meal for the homeless. The firefighters set on a mission to hand out sub sandwiches. The fire trucks drove along Gottingen Street and soon made their first stops. They also found several people in front of the Salvation Army, including Rocky Syliboy.
“I think it’s very good what they’re doing because there’s a lot of people that don’t got nothing for Christmas,” Syliboy said.
“If someone says hello to you or a hand shake, that means a lot too — or someone says Merry Christmas. But to give you a sub and something to eat, that really shows gratitude and shows that people really do care.”
The next stop was the business district of Spring Garden Road, where Doyle easily spotted people in need, who were appreciative of his gesture.
“It makes my day every time I see someone like a fire department or any random person just going around giving out food, helping the homeless out as much as they can,” ” said Leshawn Telifero, a panhandler.
“Especially when it’s the winter time and it’s hard for most of us panhandlers and homeless people to make money for food.”
Doyle’s fellow firefighters enjoyed the experience.
“It’s very rewarding,” said Dave Geldart. “Hopefully everyone will appreciate it and maybe we can do this as a yearly thing.”
$245 was left over from donations, so Doyle decided to give it to the nearby Community Care Food and Furniture Bank.
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