For Donald Fudge, the decision to put his savings towards the well being of others during the pandemic was made without a second thought.
Ron Fudge, of Marmora, says his son Donald took his own allowance to the grocery store to buy food and other things. He helped his dad build a shelf, set it up in his front yard, stocked the shelves with the supplies and labelled it “free for those in need”. Fudge said he explained to his son that some people are just scraping by with many people out of jobs.
What happened next was amazing.
“As soon as he heard that, he ran right upstairs to his room, grabbed his piggy bank, brought it back down and emptied it out and said “Is this enough to help buy people food?”. Well if that’s what you want to do, buddy, then yeah we can try and start to do something.”
Fudge says once social media got wind of it, it exploded. People in the area and local businesses began donating to the cause. Food, money and personal hygiene products started rolling in. He says he’s had people drop things by every day, and he even had to build more shelf space.
Fudge says he taught his kids that someone else always has less and helping can go a long way.
“Well it’s always just been to help out. Even if you only have a little, it’s still a lot more than somebody else has at this moment”
They’ll be accepting donations as long as people are donating, or until the cold weather hits according to Fudge. He says anyone can swing by their house just off Highway 7 in Marmora to drop off donations.
A community food box, which has turned into a place to pick up donations of school supplies and other needed items as well, outside of the Fudge household on Bursthall Street in Marmora. (Photo: Facebook / Ron Fudge)
