Bonnyville is keeping up with over 600 Fort McMurray fire evacuees.
Truck after truck of donations has been arriving to Bonnyville Centralized High School (BCHS) and the Bonnyville Baptist Church as the town works to support wildfire evacuees.
The church has received two 54-ft. semi-trailer trucks from Fort Saskatchewan Legion. Three additional shipments from Ontario, Calgary and Edmonton arrived last week.
“We originally worked with Lance McClain and Timberwolf, and local businesses to send a truck of water and food Wednesday night, and had the donations going by then,” said Baptist Church Associate Pastor Ben Smith. “It's been steady since. There are always people bringing in more.”
Bonnyville became an official reception centre for evacuees last Tuesday night. Since then, Fort McMurray evacuees have come to town looking to register at the Centennial Centre for the town's support services.
One initiative gets evacuees from cots-to-beds for more substantial and comfortable housing as they wait to return home.
“Nobody is going to be going on cots. We haven't had one person yet that has to reside on a cot,” said Mayor Gene Sobolewski. “We're making sure the evacuees are as comfortable as possible so they can go through the process of the impact the last week has had on their lives, (instead of worrying about) where are they going to eat and where are they going to sleep.”
In the early weeks of the Fort McMurray forest fires, the generosity of the community overwhelmed donations hubs. Town officials asked residents to direct their donations to the Red Cross as it filled up with material items.
A few days later, community organizers had compiled a prioritized list of things they needed. Hubs had an excess of clothes and toys but needed non-perishable food items.
“It's been absolutely phenomenal how the students here and people have brought in the specific items today, the comments I get from evacuees is what a generous community. There have been many tears shed in the gym,” said BCHS principal Corey Baker.
Items are coming in every day, and going out just as quickly.
“We are down to about a third of what we had from Ontario, Edmonton, and Calgary,” said Smith. “It's really, really cool to see how people are jumping in.”
He added, “We will need people for a long time, I seem to have enough a of a supply chain. We should be able to handle the supplies but we're going to need peoples' times this week, and the next, and the next.”
Sobolewski estimated many more evacuees will come to Bonnyville over the next few weeks, bringing the total population of evacuees to between 900 and 1,100.
“We're also getting folks from Cold Lake, St. Paul and Edmonton because they're not being directed very well, or there isn't a lot of communications to where people can go,” said Sobolewski. “We're doing a better job because we were much more stocked and organized. The demand is out there, we've got people all over in campers, and in tents, not just in hotel rooms.”
“If you think back to Slave Lake it was a month or two before people were allowed back in. Some of them will be okay, they'll have jobs left, some will not have houses or a job or anything, they're going to need love from the community,” said Smith.
Sobolewski suggested many of the evacuees coming to Bonnyville will be here for a while as families evaluate their options.
As evacuees become better situated, larger donations like furniture may be required at donations hubs.
“The folks that lost their homes are going to be staying with us a little longer, that's where furnishings sometime in the future may be a requirement but not right now,” said Sobolewski. “It's a really tough thing to predict. The last thing you want to do is have an overwhelming supply and see it go to waste.”
Those looking to donate or volunteer can visit the Bonnyville Baptist Church or BCHS. The church is open 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. for donations, and then until 9 p.m. to sort and categorize items. BCHS is open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
“The spirit of this region and the outpouring of help is phenomenal,” said Sobolewski. “It's hard to describe but it is an absolute treasure how many people come together for certain causes.”
