Orillia council members are organizing two community shovelling blitzes — one on Saturday and a second on Tuesday — to dig out their neighbours and snow-covered fire hydrants.
Anyone interested in helping dig out driveways and clear snow from hydrants is asked to come to the Orillia Recreation Centre at 9 a.m. on Saturday and 8 a.m. on Tuesday.
"Bring a shovel," advised Mayor Don McIsaac. "Together, as a community, we can do this."
He thanked those who have reached out to help, and especially those who have cleared snow around hydrants on their properties already.
"The goal is to clear all 1,000 fire hydrants in the City of Orillia. We will also shovel out those in need," McIsaac wrote in a Facebook post.
Coun. Jay Fallis put the call out for volunteers earlier this week to help dig neighbours out of the huge piles of snow, and Coun. Jeff Czetwerzuk joined him in Ward 3.
"It snowballed into this city-wide event, so we are really excited," said Fallis.
"The mayor reached out to us after seeing us helping people out and he had the idea of involving more city members and taking a day to tackle the big problems like the fire hydrants," Czetwerzuk said.
"We've heard stories of people who have experienced a structure fire in the wintertime and watched crews dig out a fire hydrant while their house burns down. We want to avoid these issues. It's all about safety. It's also about people who don't have the means to clear their snow to make sure they are safe," he added.
Word has gotten around and a couple of businesses are donating food to volunteer shovellers. On Saturday, Tops in Pizza will provide food for volunteers. On Tuesday, there will be free food from Chick-fil-A, which is also sponsoring the Coldest Night of the Year walk Saturday night.
Organizers have a map of the fire hydrant locations and they will clear them by ward.
Volunteer hours are available for high school students, said Fallis.
"We encourage high school students to come out and help out and enjoy some pizza or chicken after," he said.
If you can help or know anyone who needs help, email [email protected] or contact your ward councillors.