In Georgetown, P.E.I., three siblings have become well-known names since starting their annual food and toy drives in 2014 and dedicating their volunteerism to the community.
Sam MacKenzie, 17, along with siblings Jack, 18, and Cora, 20, of Georgetown, P.E.I. are becoming adults. Sam, the youngest, was just 12 years old when they first started the food and toy drives.
The family used to participate in a food drive held in Montague, P.E.I., but when those stopped and they noticed a need at the food bank, they came up with the idea of doing their own in Georgetown, starting out at Daryl’s General Store.
“It just started with a few young kids - me, my brother and my sister - just doing little things to help our less fortunate people,” said Sam. “When we got older, we started to realize that we’ve got to keep this going. Because it's actually a huge thing that we're doing.”
Since then, they have held four food drives for the Southern Kings and Queens Food Bank. Sam recalls how confusing it seemed at such a young age.
“We didn't have a huge idea of what we were actually doing,” said Sam. “We just thought it was a simple thing, just go sit at the store for a few hours, collect some food … when we got older, you realize how it's actually kind of a big thing to be doing that because a lot of people don't nowadays.”
When the holiday season came around, the boys teamed up with Charlottetown radio station Ocean 100 to start a Toys for Tots campaign, setting up boxes in the community for people to donate toys, ensuring that kids from families in need got presents under their Christmas trees. It takes a lot of driving around to each location and produces carloads of toys, and the oldest sibling, Cora, helped the boys a lot with that.
In 2016, they took the toy drive even further, starting a charity hockey game fundraiser at Three Rivers Sportsplex. Local fire department volunteers and police officers play, and the community has a good time all around. This year, although fans would not be in the stands due to pandemic restrictions, they are trying to get approval to run the game with a designated drop-off area for donations.
One of Sam’s favourite parts is bringing their collected toys to the donation box at the radio station.
“I love going into Ocean 100, just seeing the smiling faces you get when you're going to drop off the toys,” said Sam. “It’s just a really different feeling when you're getting smiles for people for doing something generous.”
Parents Lisa and Daryl MacKenzie, who volunteer a lot themselves, are proud of their kids. The teenaged siblings of are almost always helping their community together.
“It's pretty enjoyable because we're all around the same age,” said Sam. “So, we always make stuff a lot more fun than we would if we were … more years apart. And we all get along pretty well, so that's always a good thing when you do initiatives like this.”
Their community involvement goes well beyond the drives. All three teens are big on sports; Sam has coached hockey, Jack in baseball, and Cora with a Learn to Skate program.
In 2017, brothers also had a fun time assisting the seniors’ theatre group who needed some extra hands with a show. They had planned to take part this year, but the show was cancelled due to the pandemic.
As the youngest, Sam is now busy with his final year of high school, while his older siblings are in their first and third years of university.
“I get a lot of help from my family with trying to keep everything organized, because I'm not a very organized person,” said Sam. “Both of my siblings are, and they're a huge help with most things in my life, honestly.”
