In just two days, members of a Facebook support group for those in Fort McMurray have already filled nearly five storage lockers worth of necessities.
The group is working closely with the Alberta government to send what’s needed most, like toiletries and clean clothing. Most were only left with the clothes on their backs from the night of the wildfire.
The focus now is finding help to transport the donations.
“Right now, we really need hands,” says volunteer Natasha Jollymore. “We need hands to get in there, help us sort it out, get it boxed, and get it shipped.”
Outside of the Facebook support group, Cape Breton and Prince Edward have also sent their own donations.
Canadian banks are also lending a helping hand to the people affected by the wildfires. Some are deferring mortgage or credit card payments, while others are taking client by client approach, depending on the bank.
“We’re doing what we can to support Alberta in their time of need,” says New Brunswick Premier Brian Gallant. “We have committed to sending $76,000.”
Along with the money, the New Brunswick government is also sending around 20 firefighters and is exploring the delay of student loan payments, like Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island have done.
A fundraising concert is scheduled for May 15 at Centre 200 in Sydney.
“The biggest up until now had been the Alberta floods of 2013, where I think Canadians donated somewhere around $43 million to the Red Cross,” says Dan Bedell of the Canadian Red Cross. “We’ve already gone well beyond that, and we’re still fairly early in it.”
At the rate of generosity, the Red Cross expects Canadian donations to surpass $60 million by the end of Monday.
With files from CTV Atlantic’s Matt Woodman.
