Volunteers gather massive food donations for Freedom Convoy
On Thursday, January 27, thousands of people gathered throughout the day to support the one of the Freedom Convoys — a group of truckers destined for Ottawa — as it passed through Port Hope, Ontario.
The outpouring of support was especially evident in the vast amount of food and beverages collected and offered to attendees.
The food donations were so massive that the organizers had allotted “stations” in which they prepared bags upon bags of goods to aid the truckers in their journey and subsequent hunker down initiative in the nation’s capital. Hand written letters with thanks and well wishes were included in many of the packages sent off with truckers.
As supporters and truckers trickled through the truck stop location just off of Highway 401 and County Road 28, some stayed for hours and others honked in support as they drove by. Spread out several kilometres, there had to have been thousands of supporters throughout the several hours that spanned the event.
I spoke to both truckers and supporters and they all were moved by the outpouring of Canadian patriotism shown during the last few days. Emotions ran high as they recounted every overpass being filled with Canadian flags and encouragement from the general public, including many children and young adolescents.
Throughout the five hours that I covered the event, there was a consistent trickle of big rigs and other vehicles — pickup trucks, vans, RV’s, regular cars — that passed through the truck stop. Intermittent heavy snow resulted in poor driving conditions which meant that parts of the convoy had to be re-routed up from the 401 so the original timeline of a 2 p.m. arrival had been deviated by several hours.
The truckers were all clear in their response. They want to see an end to vaccine mandates and are willing to hunker down in Ottawa until their demand is met.