“Can I help you sir?”
Standing at the front door of Edmonton Emergency Relief Services Society, this may feel like a standard greeting but it’s not. When Cindi Hache is the one asking, it means more. She really wants to know if she can help.
She’s been helping the people of Edmonton and abroad for more than 30 years. She founded E.E.R.S.S. in 1986 with Kathy Prudhon and two others. Back then, the goal was to collect donations to help a family devastated by a fire. Less than a year later, it was servicing the whole city.
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When the tornado of 1987 tore through Edmonton, 27 people were killed and around 750 families were instantly homeless. E.E.R.S.S. sprung to the front line to organize donations and distribute aid. Cindi Hache tucked her one-year-old son into a safe spot before rushing out to help.
“She goes out of her way for random strangers on a daily basis. She’s my inspiration,” said Cindi’s son Cody Acton. He’s all grown up now and he works at E.E.R.S.S.
“It’s home.”
Since its modest beginning, E.E.R.S.S. has grown to become a charity that thousands depend on during big disasters. It helped during the Manitoba floods in 1997, the Slave Lake fire in 2011 and took the lead on the Fort McMurray relief effort last May.
READ MORE: Fort McMurray wildfire: 57,000 evacuees helped by Edmonton Emergency Relief Services Society
“I remember, we didn’t even go home one night. We just stayed here until the next day,” said Acton of the Fort McMurray fire.
The headline disasters may be what E.E.R.S.S. is remembered for, but daily service will be its legacy. And it’s all built on the foundation provided by Hache.
It provides clothing, blankets and furniture to the homeless and to social agencies that help those in need.
“There’s times that we’ve gone out at midnight to four in the morning in like winter storms,” Acton said.
Perhaps the best glimpse into their family circle came the past holiday season when they heard of a fire.
“Right in the middle of Christmas dinner, I got the email that night, and we dropped everything and went out and helped them,” Acton said. “We brought them a bed, a Christmas tree, toys for the kids, food even.”
That’s the way it’s been for three decades and Hache hopes it will continue for decades more.
READ MORE: Help needed for Edmontonians displaced by apartment fire
She’s not-so-secretly hoping her son will take over and she can “retire.” But she has one big project ahead of her: looking for a new building. The current home is being sold which means she is searching for something new, with plenty of space for donations.
Even in the middle of the E.E.R.S.S. birthday party, Hache is organizing a meeting with the board of directors to discuss their future, until someone else catches her attention.
“Can I help you sir?”