Man Ships Food To Remote Alaska Town After It Was Cut Off From Grocery Supply Chain

So many things have changed since this pandemic. Many businesses have to remain closed for the time being. Several restaurant customers are told that they can only order food for delivery or curbside pickup. While waiting in line at stores at restaurants, customers are told that they must stay at least six feet away from one another. These are all things you already know, though. It’s something we’re all going through together.

Something that has impacted a small, remote Alaskan town called Gustavus, in specific, during the pandemic was a lack of access to groceries. While everyone else is scrambling for toilet paper, the 446 town residents were worried that they wouldn’t be able to get their hands on reasonably priced groceries anytime soon. But, luckily, the town grocer, Toshua Parker, decided to step in to help.

Parker took off in late April in a small barge from Gustavus to Juneau. The trip took seven hours.

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Below is an image of Parker’s 96-foot-long ship.

Upon arriving at his destination, Parker purchased $20,000 worth of groceries from a remote Costco to bring back to the town of Gustavus. Grocery items included fresh produce, eggs, meat, flour, and canned food.

And although Parker’s sale was massive, the Costco location still had strict rations on products to ensure there were enough goods to go around for everyone.

“We’ll place a $20k order, but they’ll still only give us one pack of paper towels. I understand why they’d do that, but we’re not a single person panic buying; we’re trying to feed a whole community,” Parker said.

On the bright side, Parker helped the secluded, Alaskan town get the supplies they desperately needed at a fair cost.

Sadly, though, heavy demand for products isn’t completely rare in Alaska. Although, it’s something the residents are usually more prepared for.

“It’s an art form, not a science,” Parker said when explaining supply and demand in Alaska. “The town might have a 100-gallon swing in demand for milk from one week to the next without any explanation of why. One week, nobody wants whole milk; the next week, everyone wants 2%.”

But with the demand for groceries being at an all-time high during the quarantine, you bet that people’s faces lit up when they heard that Parker’s grocery delivery had arrived.

“It’s like Christmas when the load gets here. Everyone is waiting for it. Word gets out, and they all seem to know when it’s coming.”

All in all, the townspeople are very thankful for Parker’s work.

“Toshua pretty much saved the town. I really don’t know what we would’ve done without him,” said Calvin Casipit, the volunteer mayor of Gustavus. We could use more good people like Parker in the world!

Here are some images of the small town: