Hundreds of Albertans laced up their shoes for a five kilometre walk and run in Edmonton Tuesday night to raise money for displaced Fort McMurray residents.
About 500 people gathered in Kinsmen Park for the 7 p.m. “5 for the Fort” run through the river valley, which was led by five Global Edmonton anchors: Nancy Carlson, Kent Morrison, Quinn Ohler, Su-Ling Goh and Margeaux Morin. (Scroll down for social media posts from the event.)
The route took runners across the Dudley B. Menzies LRT bridge, west down River Valley Road, back across the river at Groat Road, and back east through Emily Murphy Park.
Each runner donated a minimum of $5. Over $8,100 was raised for the Red Cross.
Watch Below: Sights and sounds from ‘5 for the Fort’ fundraiser run
As of Tuesday evening the Canadian Red Cross had already collected $60 million from individuals and corporations, eclipsing public support for past national disasters such as the 2013 southern Alberta floods, Lac Megantic rail disaster and 2011 Slave Lake wildfire.
READ MORE: Fort McMurray wildfire: Red Cross has raised $60 million and counting
The Red Cross total doesn’t include additional money coming from Ottawa and the Alberta government, which have both promised to match donations.
On Wednesday both the Red Cross and the Alberta government will announce detailed plans to get emergency funds to people in need.
The province has promised adult evacuees will each get $1,250, and dependents will get $500. The money will likely come on pre-loaded debit cards, and further details are coming Wednesday.
In order to allow for immediate distribution to people who are most urgently in need of this assistance, the province asked evacuees who aren’t in dire need of the funds to not claim them right away.
BELOW: Tweets and Instagram posts from Global’s #5forthefort run.