Over $250,000 raised for Fort McMurray at a benefit concert in Cape Breton is now on the way to victims of Alberta wildfires.
The money will be delivered to Red Cross volunteers directly, who will in turn distribute the aid.
Red Cross volunteer Amy Campbell-Landry leaves on Saturday for a three-week deployment to Fort McMurray.
“I really hope it helps,” says Landry. “That’s a substantial amount, and I’m really proud that Cape Breton was able to raise so much.”
The staggering total of more than $251,000 was raised at a benefit concert called, “Giving Back to the Mac.”
“Everybody has a friend or a family member, my own brother’s out there,” says Cape Breton Regional Mayor, Cecil Clarke. “We all know what the real impact is.”
As for the impact of the money raised, the Red Cross says a lot of it will go towards helping evacuees return home.
Mayor Clarke is also offering Fort Mac the use of several CBRM resources going forward.
“I indicated that we would be part of any Canadian effort to deploy any of our employees that would volunteer to go across divisions,” says Clarke.
The money raised for Fort Mac has certainly not gone unnoticed and will be a strong helping hand for those in the aftermath of the wildfires.
The efforts are being viewed as another example of the “giving nature of the Maritimes.”
With files from CTV Atlantic’s Ryan MacDonald.
