It doesn't surprise Bonnyville's Debby Lemieux one bit that Albertans have donated millions of dollars in cash, services and personal belongings to help the thousands of people in Slave Lake who lost so much when wildfires left 7,000 residents homeless three weeks ago.
“Albertans have shown time and time again that when things get tough, we step up to the plate time and time again to help people when they need it most,” said Lemieux, who was one of about 400 people who showed up at the Slave Lake Benefit Dance this past Friday evening at the Centennial Centre.
“I'm sure if the exact opposite had happened and there was a crisis in Bonnyville, the people of Slave Lake would have done everything they could to help us. Most Albertans are very generous people and I'm just glad to be able to do my little part to try and help the people of Slave Lake who lost so much because of the fires.”
Keith Durie, events manager at the Centennial Centre, said more than $33,000 was raised in donations at the event, from the bar and a silent auction.
Centennial Centre staff are hoping to make the drive up to Slave Lake later this week to hand over proceeds to community leaders there, he said.
Lemieux brought her niece Mya, who just celebrated her first birthday, to the benefit dance.
Lemieux said she has lived her entire life in the Bonnyville area and it didn't surprise her at all that a benefit dance could be organized in such a short amount of time and residents would step up to the plate to donate what they could to help.
To have a good-sized crowd show up at the benefit dance was encouraging because there were many other events in town this past weekend, including the annual Relay for Life fundraiser for cancer research and the Bonnyville Oilmens Society's golf tournament, said Lemieux.
“If there weren't other big events going on in town, I'm sure we would have had an even better turnout,” she said. “But there is a good crowd here and everyone seems to be having a good time, so I'm really happy I came out.”
Riley Swenson, 12, said he wanted to do his small part to try and help.
“My mom works at the Centennial Centre and she asked me if I wanted to help and I really did want to help,” said Swenson. “I helped set up the tables and gave my mom a hand organizing the prizes for the silent auction, so it was fun.”
Swenson said even kids his age realize how devastating the fires in Slave Lake were for the residents who live there.
“A lot of people lost their homes … it was pretty bad,” he said.
Swenson said he had a good time helping out.
“The people of Bonnyville are always there to help others,” he said.
Durie said his staff and a small army of volunteers are very happy the event was such a success.
“It was a lot of work to put this all together in such a short amount of time, but we were confident we could pull it off and overall I think things went very well,” he said. “To raise $33,000 in one evening is a pretty impressive accomplishment and I want to thank my staff and everyone who volunteered for doing a great job.”
Besides the money raised, Bonnyville and area residents have donated all kinds of clothing and household items to Slave Lake residents. A second tractor trailer full of goods will be transported to that community later this week, he said.
In a wonderful twist of fate during Friday's event, Bonnyville's Tracy Ghostkeeper won the 50/50 draw of $800. Ghostkeeper is originally from Slave Lake and has numerous family members who still live there.
Ghostkeeper was telling friends after her big win that she planned on buying her best friend, who lost everything due to fire, a very nice present to help her and her family as they recover.
The local Canadian Red Cross and Scotiabank branch will continue to accept donations for residents of Slave Lake in the coming weeks.
