An Alaskan man makes 14-hour boat trips to Costco to feed his city

In the midst of a coronavirus epidemic, a grocery storeman in a neighboring neighborhood is called the savior of his small town.

Toshua Parker, Owner Wholesale of ice water In Gustavus, he began loading cruise ships with a ferry for a weekly 14-hour voyage to a Costco in Juneau, 50 miles away, to deliver groceries to his city.

Parker told the Post he takes $ 30,000 worth of milk, mud and meat on his weekly trips to Costco.

Before the explosion, Parker, 39, received shipments from Costco via Alaska’s ferry system. However, the epidemic, with severe storms damaging the city’s dock, stopped the boat from operating.

As the ferry system collapsed, Parker bought a “96-foot-park”, worried that the city would be hungry.

“There was humor in the city. We were the biggest fools or heroes ever,” Parker said.

Gustavus-lacking roads – supplies started to run out once the city was locked up, so Parker spoke with a local fisherman and decided to make weekly trips to his “96-foot-long converted military landing craft” – and plan trips around the waves and weather for Juneau.

“When we come to Juneau, we cannot get off the boat due to restrictions. So different guys bring the goods to the boat. Our guys load the stuff on the boat, Parker said. The 15 employees then make a 7-hour journey back to Gustavus, where he uses the items to store his groceries.

“The hours make it worth it – you know who you’re serving and you see them everyday,” Parker said of feeding Gustavus.

The business owner told the Post it was “not right.”

He recently ordered eggs from Costco in Juneau and was later told by a shopkeeper that he had restrictions on eggs due to an egg shortage, and he had “two dozen eggs for the entire city.”

“He does not know how long the restrictions will last” and “ordered the 800 dozen eggs from Seattle.” A truck was scheduled to take eggs, but then missed the park. Five days later the eggs arrived in Juneau.

“There are no eggs for two weeks and then a city of 400 people with 1,000 dozen eggs sitting is incredible.”

“We’re going to continue to do what we do,” Parker said. He is optimistic about the future and admits that he “needs to adjust to the new nature.”

“Toshua saved the city very much,” Gustavus Mayor Gossipit said in an interview Tanks are good news. “I don’t know what we would do without him.”