P.E.I. teenager mobilizes her community to feed families in need

After helping her mother with a successful food drive in Charlottetown in the spring, 17-year-old Sophie Flower is taking the lead on another event in her own community.

The Bluefield High School student has organized a food drive for the South Shore Food Share to help out people in her own community of Crapaud.

"I don't know where it came from," Flower said of her desire to organize events like this one, "but I hate seeing people in need struggle."

After the success of the spring event, Flower told her mother she wanted to do another one for the holidays and her mother pushed her to take the lead on it.

'Like you're going to Tim Horton's'

So she got on the phone to Health PEI, got the information she needed to put together an operational plan to ensure the event was safe in the pandemic, wrote the plan and got it approved.

"We're asking everyone to put the items of food in the trunk of their car and to stay in their car and they'll drive through," said Flower.

"It's like you're going to Tim Horton's but you're actually doing a really nice thing and donating food."

The event is being held in partnership with the Kingston Legion. Volunteers will direct vehicles through the lot and collect the food. Volunteers will be wearing masks and gloves — and gloves will be sanitized after each collection. The donations will be quarantined at the legion for 72 hours before being distributed.

The food drive is particularly focused on Christmas dinner, and Flower has arranged space to take frozen turkeys and vegetables.

Donations are being accepted at the Kingston Legion Saturday from 2-4 p.m. If you can't make that time drop a note on the event's Facebook page and other arrangements can be made.

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