EDMONTON- Fans at Saturday’s Edmonton Eskimos game in the capital city have come through for southern Alberta flood victims.
The Edmonton Eskimos dedicated their game to flood victims, collecting monetary donations at Commonwealth Stadium Saturday afternoon.
Throughout the week, Edmontonians were also asked to sign one of four banners to show their support for those affected by the floods. For every signature, $1 will be donated to the Canadian Red Cross, with a goal of raising $50,000.
The Eskimos announced a total of $550,000 was raised through those efforts.
Singer/songwriter Corb Lund also took part in the efforts. He took to the stage at the Edmonton Eskimos season opener Saturday afternoon, to do his part for flood victims in southern Alberta.
“I told my manager ‘this is my turf, so I’ve got to help out as best I can.'”
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“It is football, it’s a game, it’s a sport and we’re very passionate and make no mistake about it, we wanna make a difference when we’re on the field. But as human beings, if we don’t do something to help people from Calgary then there is something wrong with us,” Eskimos President and CEO Len Rhodes said Saturday afternoon.
The country singer performed during halftime Saturday afternoon. Earlier Saturday, Lund said he planned on playing a couple of Alberta classics.
“There’s one called Praise Alberta and there’s another one called Roughest Neck Around about working Albertans,” Lund said from the Global Edmonton studios Saturday morning.
Lund says he couldn’t believe the extent of the damage in southern Alberta, and calls the situation “surreal.”
“I grew up down there, I have tons of friends in Calgary, and relatives. To see a city you know so well under siege like that, it takes a while to process,” he said. “It makes you feel pretty small compared to Mother Nature.”
Lund initially contacted local country music station CISN to set up the benefit concert. He says when the Eskimos contacted him he jumped at opportunity to perform.
“In this case, Calgary’s pretty wrecked and Alberta’s my hometown, basically the whole place. And everybody’s been really great to me for 20 years and supported me, so me and some of the other musicians … are doing our best to help raise money and make sure people know what’s going on down there.”
Lund says he and other fellow musicians plan to hold a few benefit concerts in the coming weeks and months, to do their part in the relief effort.
Lund’s visit to Edmonton is short; as soon as he’s done performing at Commonwealth Stadium he’ll hop a plane to Dauphin, Manitoba, where he’ll play Saturday night.
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