GCFD3 food drive creates a tradition of community support
The food drive by GCFD3 has been going on for more than 10 years, a tradition the district looks forward to, GCFD3 Deputy Chief David Durfee said.
Rebecca Pettingill/Columbia Basin Herald
The annual Grant County Fire District 3 food drive was held Dec. 4 in Quincy by GCFD3 volunteers, career staff and their families.
Quincy residents had their donations ready for volunteers to collect as they made their way through every neighborhood in town.
A few Quincy residents donated money instead of non-perishable goods for the GCFD3 annual food drive.
Some residents, like these children, were happy to deliver the donations to the volunteers at the truck.
QUINCY — Grant County Fire District 3 held its annual food drive to support the Quincy Community Food Bank Sunday afternoon.
“I would just like to thank the community (for its) support, every year coming out in the cold and providing definitely a necessary need for the community,” said GCFD3 Deputy Chief David Durfee.
The food drive is held every year in December, except in 2021 when it was moved to April due to COVID-19. The drive has been held for over a decade, Durfee said.
“It's kind of becoming (a) traditional event that we look forward to doing every year,” said Durfee.
In the annual drive, GCFD3 sends out several fire vehicles and crews of volunteers, career staff and family members to drive up and down every street in Quincy. As they make their way through their assigned areas, they have their sirens and lights on to let residents know they are close.
The lights and sirens, whether out of curiosity of all the noise or just the child-like awe for the first responder’s big rigs, drew a lot of looks from residents as they passed by – even if they were not donating to the drive.
Some donations were left in bags or boxes on people’s porches or at the ends of their driveways while others patiently waited for the truck to come by and hand-deliver them to the crew. A few residents donated money instead of non-perishable goods.
Smiles were contagious as the firefighters passed through each neighborhood waving and exchanging a greeting with community members who donated.
Anyone who missed the drive on Sunday can rest easy; GCFD3 will be accepting donations for the rest of the week at the fire station before delivering them to the food bank on Friday.
GCFD3 measures donations in pounds, GCFD3 resident coordinator Lieutenant Michele Talley explained, by loading up the fire district pickups and SUVs with the donations and taking them to Quincy Farm Chemicals’ Office to weigh on the big truck scale. After they drop off the donations at the food bank, they go back to the scale to see how much lighter the vehicles are.
Talley said they normally donate 1,500 to 2,000 pounds of food on average each year.
“It’s just always nice giving back to the community that supports us,” said Durfee. “So if there's something we can do to give back, we like to do that.”
Rebecca Pettingill may be reached at rpettingill@columbiabasinherald.com. Read more of her work at columbiabasinherald.com.
