Mr. Speaker, in March of last year, as the pandemic began to shut down our entire country, a group of dedicated community volunteers in Whitby banded together to ensure nobody was left behind.
I want to congratulate and thank everyone involved in the Whitby Caremongers. From organizing multiple community-wide food drives with hundreds of volunteers, to setting up phone lines and delivering food and other essentials to seniors in isolation, to creating a gift card collection program before the holidays to make sure that children from Whitby did not go without these holidays, these incredible people have helped keep our community safe and healthy and have stepped up to the plate during a challenging time. By showing they care about each other, these outstanding volunteers, these Caremongers, have demonstrated community resilience and achieved an immeasurable impact.
On behalf of the people of Whitby, I want to say a big heartfelt thank you to the volunteers across our community. They have shown compassion and given so much during a challenging year, and they enrich our community.