Hots and hams for truck drivers as Bishop's Falls group serves up meals for the road

A group in Bishop's Falls is showing their appreciation for truck drivers as they face long hours and difficult times of late in some instances being refused service or even a bathroom while out on the road during a global pandemic.

What started as a few sandwiches and baked goods last week blossomed into a full-blown barbecue on Tuesday.

"My husband, he's a retired truck driver, and one day last week he said 'Shanna I'd really like to do something to help out the truckers,'" Shanna Patey, who helped organize the shindig,told CBC Radio's On The Go.

"They're going through so much. They're essential workers. They're bringing what we need into the province."

So the plan was hatched.

Patey said the impromptu barbecue went through 150 hamburgers and hotdogs on Tuesday, all free and rounded up by the community, and the message from truck drivers was loud and clear not many are doing what her group is doing.

"It's an overwhelming feeling of generosity and just how gracious and grateful they are for what we are doing," said Patey. "We enjoy giving back."

The entire operation has been run safely, saidPatey. Everything is in bags and handled with gloves, with hand sanitizer at the ready, she said, and all gloves are discarded as each hungry mouth is served.

But the work isn't over. Another day of serving meals to road-weary truck drivers is being planned, possibly Thursday.

This time it will be turkey soup.

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