Two days after a massive fire destroyed the Village of Minto’s only grocery store, residents are rallying together to ensure everyone has access to groceries and fresh food.
Donald Gould, mayor for the Village of Minto, said the fire was a shock to the community, and said council met Monday to figure out a plan to ensure residents who are unable to drive to neighbouring towns for groceries are able to get food.
“Certainly it was a shock to everyone initially, but since then our main concern, the concern of the individuals in the community is ‘how do we get our major staples, like meat, produce and those things,” Gould said.
READ MORE: Fire destroys lone grocery store in Minto, New Brunswick
Gould said there are convenient stores and drug stores in the village that sell items such as milk and bread, but said it’s access to produce and meat that is concerning.
“The day of the fire, council had a meeting and we had local volunteers who were part of our emergency response group come forward and said that they would take on the task of driving people who don’t have cars, and seniors… to the grocery stores in Chipman to pick up the kind of things that they need,” Gould said.
He said the Queens North Community Health Centre has offered to donate their van twice a week for the next couple weeks to take residents to Chipman — with the first shuttle available to take up to ten people there on Thursday.
Gould said for residents who don’t want to travel out of the village there is also a mobile meat shop set up across the road from the municipal office.
Door-to-Door Seafood owner Kim Hatfield was set-up Wednesday selling sausages, shrimp, chicken and other meats to residents.
“It devastated me to find out that the store had burned, had burnt down, because it’s the only store in town, but they called me, the city councillor called me Monday afternoon and asked if I’d be interested in coming down a little more often or frequently because of the necessities that the community needs,” Hatfield said.
Hatfield said he is usually set-up at the Northside Market in Fredericton, but is often out in communities delivering his products.
He said he wants to help ensure residents have access to the staples and said he will be back in Minto on Friday, along with a produce truck.
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Gould said so far the village has only received one request for a ride to Chipman, and said he has also been encouraging residents to carpool with neighbours when going to get groceries. He said anyone who needs a ride can call the village office to arrange transportation
Global News reached out for comment from Sobeys Wednesday, but did not receive a response prior to publication deadline. Gould said representatives from the company are scheduled to be in town Thursday to assess the situation.
Gould said the La-Kassa-We pub is hosting a fundraiser this weekend, with proceeds going to support anyone in-need due to the fire.
“I understand there are a few people who are doing fundraisers or collecting food and we’re asking people if they are doing that to deliver it to the village office and we’ll see how best we can distribute that, so we’ll be a good council to make sure we do those things,” Gould said.
He said he wants to thank all the fire departments and local service districts who came together on Monday to battle the blaze.
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