Dan Marcotte is remembering a saying he heard a long time ago: “When you do something good, no one remembers and when you do something bad, no one forgets.”
After a video showed the Lake Country business owner purchasing two carts full of various meat went viral, the negative comments started pouring in on how Marcotte was hoarding during a pandemic and limiting others’ supplies.
“All I get are death threats,” Marcotte said. “It was a stupid mistake, now I’m being prosecuted. But nobody really knows who I am.”
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Marcotte operates a small moving company in Lake Country and was at the forefront of volunteers who helped deliver food and various goods to wildfire evacuees in northern B.C. back in 2017. He said he would drive 14-hour days during that time to deliver supplies.
After the backlash from the viral video, viewed over 360,000 times online, Marcotte donated $1,000 to the Lake Country Food Bank, wanting to face the mistake he made and make things right.
But the negative calls and comments keep coming in, impacting his business and well-being.
“I hope people quit belittling me, I’m going through the same (stuff) everyone’s going through. I apologize and all I can do is make good and I hope to help my community in any way I can going forward.”
According to Food Banks Canada, $1,000 could provide 3,000 meals (may vary with conditions and smaller markets).
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Marcotte said that there are false reports that say he was laughing and pushing people while at the Lake Country Save-On Foods on March 14.
“All they see is me with two carts,” he said. “I’m not rich, I made the purchases to stock enough food for my family.”
Though Marcotte said he won’t be returning or donating any of the purchases he made, he said that he will be there with bells on when and if people in Lake Country need help with moving, deliveries or pickups.
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