Saskatchewan groups pitch in to help Fort McMurray’s residents

SASKATOON – The end of Janine Harrison’s Thursday morning was punctuated by an embrace.

“Thank you,” she said, after closing the car trunk containing bags of bottles given to her by the friend who was now in her grasp.

“You’re welcome.”

Harrison is part of a group collecting bottles, clothes, and toiletries, among other items, for the thousands displaced due to a massive wildfire in Fort McMurray, Alta. She said they undertook a similar effort in 2011, when a wildfire tore through the town of Slave Lake, Alta.

“We need Saskatoon to band together to show Alberta that we care,” said Harrison, outside of the home where she collected the bottles.

“There’s a lot of people up there, even people that I don’t know, but I know their cousins, their families, that are losing everything.”

FULL COVERAGE: Fort McMurray wildfire.

As of Thursday evening, roughly 300 people had joined the Facebook group ‘Fort McMurray Bottle and Donation Drive – Saskatoon and Area’ where Harrison’s effort was being organized.

“Everybody’s got bottles, they’re sitting in your garage, they’re sitting in your porch, they’re kicking around your cars,” said Harrison.

“We’ll come pick them up and we’ll put them to good use.”

Across town on Thursday, realtor Paul Chavady took time in-between showing a home to talk about his fundraising effort. Throughout Friday at the Stonebridge Walmart, Chavady and his business partner will be collecting donations for Edmonton’s Food Bank.

“This is something where I think all of Western Canada; all of Canada needs to be stepping up to help,” said Chavady, a realtor with Royal LePage.

Saskatoon’s efforts also extended to the airwaves. Rawlco Radio stations held a day-long fundraising drive in support of residents affected by the wildfire. By evening they had raised more than $600,000 from its listeners and the community.

“This city and this province is a really caring community and it gives them an outlet to help the people of Fort McMurray,” said Rob Suski, a radio personality for the company.

“There was really a need; we were getting a lot of texts and a lot of calls, people feeling helpless, seeing all the footage of what’s going on in Fort McMurray and the fires and the wall of flames.”

Monetary donations are also being accepted at Affinity Credit Union’s in Saskatoon. Residents do not need to be a member of the bank to donate.

“We know that fires, you know, cause devastation to communities and families so we wanted to help out,” said Yvonne Osatchoff, a branch manager for the group.

The money raised by both Rawlco and Affinity will be passed along to the Red Cross. The federal government pledged to match all donations made to the humanitarian group. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau addressed the crisis in the House of Commons Thursday morning.

“The people of Fort McMurray can count on the full support of this government,” he said.

3:27 Fort McMurray wildfire: A timeline of a disaster

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• Rona Ambrose fights back tears as she discusses Fort Mac fire, gets hug from Justin Trudeau
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