30 years of emergency assistance
The Edmonton Emergency Relief Services Society (EERSS) in downtown Edmonton is celebrating 30 years Friday of providing basic necessities to victims of fire, natural disaster and other emergencies.
Founded in 1986, EERSS became an official non-profit organization in 1987. The society provides basic emergency supplies like toothbrushes and underwear to victims of fire and natural disaster and necessities, blankets and toys to Edmontonians in need.
Former executive director Kathy Prudhon and four others founded the organization after Prudhon’s neighbours — a father and son — died in a fire.
They began collecting donations for anyone displaced by fire, working out of a small section of a warehouse on Airport Road.
“The night of the tornado, all hell broke loose,” said executive director Cindi Hache of the 1987 tornado that killed 27 people and left 750 families homeless.
Hache had her one-year-old son Cody strapped in a carrier on her back, ready to evacuate, when she was called in to help. She and Prudhon put their children in a bathroom, surrounded them with blankets and pillows to keep them safe, then began their work of coordinating donations and answering the society’s one phone.
“I manned the phone until three or four in the morning until I couldn’t even say ‘emergency relief,’ ” Hache said.
Since the tornado, EERSS has led relief efforts for countless local and provincial emergencies but is currently refocusing its efforts on local clients after helping 57,000 evacuees from the Fort McMurray wildfire last spring.
“We had to get back to helping our local fire victims and our local people,” said Nicole Geoffroy, spokesperson for EERSS. “We had to get back to what we do as an organization first hand, what we do well — serving our community.”
To celebrate its 30th anniversary, EERSS is opening its doors to the public from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Friday.
Anyone can stop by to learn more about the organization or shop at the Peacock Boutique, a thrift store run by EERSS that sells new and used clothing, housewares, furniture and toiletries.
“The money we raise here at the thrift store goes right back into our organization,” said Geoffroy.
Items at the store will be further discounted Friday, Geoffroy said.