By TANNER MAWHIRTER
Tiger Media Network
Last Friday, the Ellis County EMS paramedics were at the two Dillon’s locations in Hays, not because anyone was hurt, but to collect donations for the upcoming food drive they are hosting. They accepted all donations, from cash to canned goods, in order to make sure nobody spends the winter hungry in Hays.
Dawson Vonfeldt, a paramedic who was at the 27th and Hall Dillons, gives a quick rundown of what he and the other volunteers were doing to support the cause.
“We’re doing a little food drive for the Hays Community Assistance Center, hoping to give food to families this winter, through the holidays and everything like that, and give them some assistance, hopefully,” he said. “Hopefully we can get some of the community of Hays’ assistance in donating some food and anything they can spare to help these families that might not be able to get it themselves this winter.”
Dawson said the food drive has been very beneficial over the years.
“We’ve done this for a couple of years now,” he said. “We’ve had some pretty decent returns and have seen it help quite a few families, so we hope to continue doing the same this year.”
Ashley Miller, another paramedic who helped with the food drive, explained how the drive benefits the people of Hays and where to pick up the donated food.
“This food drive helps by gathering food to donate for the fall season, which is when people really run out of food,” Miller said. “We try to donate back during the fall to help restock the shelves so in the winter time, when it’s really cold, people can come in and get food for free from the community center down on Oak Street.”
She said they usually raise around $300 and two or three trucks full of food each year.
“We back in the truck and see how much food we can pack in there,” she said. “Usually we measure it by weight, but I’m not sure of the weight we got last year, but we do a pretty decent job of packing the shelves and keeping them stocked.”
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