Caleb Nickerson
FORT COULONGE
Dec. 15, 2017
With Christmas nearly here, a group of local volunteers got together in Fort Coulonge on Friday night to gather food for those in need and help spread some holiday cheer.
Volunteers in the Knights of Columbus Hall on Friday night experienced the calm before the storm, as they waited for the teams of volunteers to return from collecting donations in the community. Row upon row of tables and empty boxes sat empty and waiting at 8 p.m., but were packed to the gills by the end of the night.

Organizer Carl Morin explained that around 100 people work together to make the annual event happen, some collecting food items door to door and some sorting and packing at the hall. He added that 90 families were selected by the volunteers to receive a box containing a host of pantry essentials.
“We have eight different teams and they go around different parts of the village [and to] the whole of Coulonge and Mansfield,” he said. “People are very generous.”
In addition to the donations, the Knights purchase turkeys, potatoes and other staples to round out the donations and make sure everyone’s Christmas meal is one to remember.
“Tomorrow morning at eight o’ clock we start handing out the boxes,” Morin said. “We have a team that’s here all night filling the boxes.”
Morin explained that the event is meaningful to him and his fellow volunteers because there are a lot of families in need in the region, due to the lack of local employment.
“This is my way of saying Merry Christmas,” he said.