More than 20,000 Nova Scotians have registered for wildfire financial aid
The fires in Halifax and Shelburne County have been devastating for the province of Nova Scotia. So far, 8,200 households and more than 20,000 people have registered for aid.
“To date, we have raised $1.7 million through our specific forest fire appeal,” says Bill Lawler of the Canadian Red Cross.
There are a myriad of needs and a number of aid organizations stepping in to help as quickly as they can.
A week after the fires became a concern, the process of distributing funds is still being coordinated. A lot of charities are raising money and dispersing those funds effectively takes time.
“The impact will be quite different from household to household and that’s what we will be working to do. Before we start to provide further assistance, we need to connect with those who have been impacted and we will be doing so via an email survey to all of those households who have registered with us,” Lawler says.
The United Way of Halifax is another group putting in long hours to help. In addition to accepting donations, they are proactively raising money.
Their big event is a benefit concert taking place Friday night at the Scotiabank Centre in Halifax, featuring a number of well-known artists, including Matt Mays, Joel Plaskett, Classified and Jenn Grant.
“We will be providing funds to service providers in the community who can work them directly with individuals to help them meet their needs, so we work with a vast number of service providers,” says the organization’s strategy director, Sue LaPierre.
“It’s important to note that this money will also support the community of Shelburne where the other fires are happening. We may be United Way Halifax but we’re going to be able to respond to any areas of the province where there is impact from the fire.”
Smaller scale efforts are also underway. Sandra Drover owns a clothing store and she is offering last year’s stock free of charge to anyone directly affected by the fires.
“I honestly can’t believe what these people have to be going through. It’s completely devastating,” Drover says. “The fact that we can help in a small way and maybe put a smile on somebody’s face because these articles are new and not worn and we can help,” she said, holding back tears.
Rounding out a true community effort to help others in their time of need.
The federal government will be matching all funds donated to the Canadian Red Cross dollar-for-dollar until June 29.
For the latest Nova Scotia news, visit our dedicated provincial page.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'They needed people inside Air Canada:' Police announce arrests in Pearson gold heist
Police say one former and one current employee of Air Canada are among the nine suspects that are facing charges in connection with the gold heist at Pearson International Airport last year.
House admonishes ArriveCan contractor in rare parliamentary show of power
MPs enacted an extraordinary, rarely used parliamentary power on Wednesday, summonsing an ArriveCan contractor to appear before the House of Commons where he was admonished publicly and forced to provide answers to the questions MPs said he'd previously evaded.
Trump lawyers say Stormy Daniels refused subpoena outside a Brooklyn bar, papers left 'at her feet'
Donald Trump's legal team says it tried serving Stormy Daniels a subpoena as she arrived for an event at a bar in Brooklyn last month, but the porn actor, who is expected to be a witness at the former president's criminal trial, refused to take it and walked away.
Why drivers in Eastern Canada could see big gas price spikes, and other Canadians won't
Drivers in Eastern Canada face a big increase in gas prices because of various factors, especially the higher cost of the summer blend, industry analysts say.
'A living nightmare': Winnipeg woman sentenced following campaign of harassment against man after online date
A Winnipeg woman was sentenced to house arrest after a single date with a man she met online culminated in her harassing him for years, and spurred false allegations which resulted in the innocent man being arrested three times.
Customers disappointed after email listing $60K Tim Hortons prize sent in error
Several Tim Horton’s customers are feeling great disappointment after being told by the company that an email stating they won a boat worth nearly $60,000 was sent in error.
Woman who pressured boyfriend to kill his ex in 2000s granted absences from prison
A woman who pressured her boyfriend into killing his teenage ex more than a decade ago will be allowed to leave prison for weeks at a time.
Toronto Raptors player Jontay Porter banned from NBA
Toronto Raptors player Jontay Porter has been handed a lifetime ban from The National Basketball Association (NBA) following an investigation which found he disclosed confidential information to sports bettors, the league says.
Storage shed or shipping container? B.C. Supreme Court settles long-running bylaw dispute
A long-running dispute over whether a structure on a Surrey property violates a city bylaw that prohibits shipping containers on residential lots has been settled by the B.C. Supreme Court