The Regional Emergency Medical Services Foundation is making sure frontline EMS professionals are taken care of. The foundation is accepting donations of gift cards to grocery stores, fast food, coffee shops to hand out.
The EMS Care Initiative comes after Alberta Health Services stopped accepting food donations due to COVID-19 concerns. Executive Director Amanda Frayn says both the foundation and AHS decided the program would be the best opportunity for the community to give back.
“I know a long time ago when I used to be a paramedic when you did get those care packages dropped off you [thought], “oh, yeah, people do know that we’re out here.”
Both the EMS Foundation and the Talk to Me Society will each match a total of $1,000 of donations received. Frayn says once the $1,000 in gift cards is met, the board will meet to see if they can continue to match after that.
“As far as accepting donations, we are going to go until we’re through this COVID-19 business. Who knows; maybe it might turn into a giving program that is always around. It’s not that no one was doing this before but it wasn’t as formal.”
Anyone looking to donate can drop off gift cards to Canadian Tire customer service or any Co-op in Grande Prairie. The foundation is also accepting cash donations via email at [email protected].
All donations that come in will be distributed to AHS EMS stations in the North zone.