SUBMITTED BY Marcus Fryia - Amber Farrer hoists a keg outside of Big Rock Brewery.
Leah Thomson
Special to the News
Amid the daily COVID-19 updates and increasing uncertainty, local resident Amber Farrer is bringing beers and smiles to the Medicine Hat community.
While birthday party parades are surely making memorable moments for Hat children, Farrer is doing something for parents, too. With confirmed cases of COVID-19 sitting at more than 1,000 in Alberta, Farrer says she sees value in random acts of kindness, especially during times like these.
Farrer’s job as a beer sales rep is reliant on face-to-face relationships, as such it is a difficult job to navigate while so many of her customers have been impacted with government-mandated closures.
“We are all just trying to find the new normal,” explains Farrer who had to adapt from an in-person role to a virtual presence, while juggling motherhood and now home-schooling. “And so we must be supportive and understanding, basically just being a friend.”
Farrer has been building these relationships in the Medicine Hat community for more than 15 years. She empathizes “you don’t want to see anybody fail or have to close their doors.”
There are nearly 100 businesses in the restaurant and liquor industry in Medicine Hat alone, and they are all being impacted by COVID-19. However, the effects are far reaching among many homes and other industries as well.
Farrer saw people in her community feel the struggle and so she decided to deliver packages of beer and cider straight to front porches in the city – from an appropriate social distance, of course.
“You can’t do a lot from a distance to impact people, but I can bring some kindness to people’s lives; like those who are isolated or can’t get to a liquor store.”
Farrer would leave these packages on the front step just to surprise those she knew were having a hard time.
“The way that people have come together here is amazing. From Trevor Moore with his street-side magic shows, Boylan imaging and their heart-shaped “We’re in this together”, to the local officer who delivered toilet paper; Medicine Hat has really come together as a community,” says Farrer.
The silver-lining she takes away from this experience is that “we are all feeling this together – we’re also showing it – but in a small community like Medicine Hat, you can actually feel it. Everyone has had to slow down and take stock of what’s important.”
