Can Man Dan hands out COVID-19 emergency packages to homeless

Can Man Dan handed out emergency packages for the homeless amid the COVID-19 pandemic. March 20, 2020. (Matt Marshall/CTV News Edmonton)

EDMONTON — Dan Johnstone, also known as "Can Man Dan," handed out emergency packages to the city's less fortunate Friday to fight off coronavirus.

"When you walk into any grocery store, the shelves are empty, there's no food, there’s no supplies," Johnstone said. "And I can almost guarantee you none of that's going towards the homeless people here."

"We decided to do something about it and created these emergency packages for the homeless and it’s filled with all the most needed essentials so they can hopefully have a little bit of a stock pile for this upcoming pandemic."

The bags hold $30 worth of goods with an emphasis on personal hygiene products such as soap, hand sanitizer, and disinfectant wipes. The group put together and handed out nearly 200 packages.

"You know what, it’s just social responsibility and helping out one another," Johnstone said. "Like I said: we all survive together or we all fail together, so it’s important that we all do our part to make sure we all succeed."

And because of social distancing, Johnstone and his group can't give and receive their usual handshakes and hugs to those they help, but they said that today's smiles were more than enough.