The global pandemic has affected people in drastic ways. People have had to change their entire approach to their day to day lifestyles. City-based regions have more options than small-town folks to find the proper groceries and amenities they need. But for people in small-towns, it can be very difficult to find their usual needs on the shelves.

The town of Gustavus Alaska is a remote region that is only accessible by boat or plane.

The town immediately felt the impact of the global pandemic when they closed off the ferry system that goes to and from the cities capital, Juneau. Toshua Parker is the owner of Icy Strait Wholesale in Gustavus which is a small town market that provides groceries and other essential items. Toshua usually has his supplies shipped from Costco to his store using the ferry system.

But because of its closure amidst the pandemic, Toshua decided to take it into his own hands.

He wasn’t going to allow his fellow Gustavus residents to suffer because of this setback. So Toshua stepped up in a very bold. He’s assembled a team of his staff and local fishermen to make a weekly 50-mile boat trip to Juneau to restock all of the needed supplies from Costco.

Supply & Demand

The boat ride ends up being 14-hours long, using a converted military landing craft to ship all of the goods. Toshua told CNN,

“It’s funny because for us, this doesn’t seem like a big deal,”

he also added,

“Alaskans are fiercely independent and resourceful; you really have to be to survive here. So when a problem arises, we don’t typically look to someone else for help, we just find a way to do it.”

Keeping Shelves Stocked

Toshua’s team has had to endure many obstacles when transporting goods and traveling back. They’ve been hit by storms while attempting to travel back to Gustavus. This puts them on a bit of delay because they have dock back up at Juneau place all the goods in coolers and wait until it’s clear to travel back. Toshua and his team’s noble act has not gone unnoticed.

The 450 residents of Gustavus are extremely grateful for their life-saving efforts.

Especially since the only place for locals to buy groceries is at “ToshCo” the newly coined nickname of the Icy Strait Wholesale. Toshua said,

“The town needed to be supplied with groceries so we just did whatever it took to make that happen. Just another day in our world. Next year it will be another obstacle to overcome and we’ll buck up and deal with it.”

Toshua wasn’t going to give up on his community, instead, he was going to provide in every way he could.

Toshua is an example of a true hero and this pandemic was going to set him back. Toshua is incredibly grateful for his team who have helped these grocery missions run as smoothly as possible.

ToshCo lives on and the city of Gustavus will forever be thankful for their selfless acts during this global pandemic.

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Source: My Positive Outlooks, CNN