Donations pour in as aid ramps up for wildfire victims
Langford barber hires Fort McMurray stylists; movers will ship donated items to Alberta
A new Langford barbershop, a moving company and a Victoria charity are among a legion of locals doing their part to support victims of the Fort McMurray wildfires.
Tommy Gun’s Original Barbershop, which opened for business at the Westshore Town Centre Friday, is giving jobs to three stylists displaced by the Fort McMurray fires, franchise owner Ron Frolek said.
The three women fly in from Alberta today and begin work Saturday. They come from two Tommy Gun’s locations in Fort McMurray closed by the blaze.
“We were in a position where we needed some stylists and these people need to earn a living,” Frolek said. “We’re flying them here, we’re getting them new equipment and we’ve secured lodging for them.”
Frolek said social media users responded enthusiastically to his call for donations and the apartment is already full.
“The community of Greater Victoria has been so generous,” he said. “We’ve had beds, housewares, blankets and pillows donated.”
The transfer was arranged by the franchisor and Frolek said he knows very little about the evacuees. After meeting them today, he planned to give them a quick tour of Greater Victoria and take them shopping to pick up anything they needed.
“We’re borrowing these people to help them through a short-term issue and the plan is for them to go back [when the Fort McMurray locations reopen]. If they come here and fall in love with this place the way we all have, it’s possible they could stay,” he said.
Volunteers with Victoria-based Disaster Aid Canada collected toiletries for 200 kits that will travel to Airdrie, Alta., today. The kits are bound for 35 formerly empty condos that are now populated with evacuees, executive director Anne McIntyre said.
In addition to kits with basics such as toothbrushes, toothpaste and deodorant, donors also dropped off baby-specific goods Monday, including baby wipes and diapers.
Disaster Aid Canada is also collecting financial donations at Canadahelps.org. Its Calgary staff are surveying the Airdrie evacuees about what what they need and the organization will use the money to make those purchases, McIntyre said.
AMJ Campbell movers are also collecting donations such as clothing, toiletries, baby food and pet food, said co-owner Glynis Brown. The company will transport donations to its storage facilties in Calgary and Edmonton.
“We have a truck and somewhere to put it on the other end,” she said.
Donations are accepted at their facility at 137-2924 Jacklin Rd., or at Premiere Van Lines at 2205 Keating Cross Rd., she said.
The Canadian Red Cross has collected $60 million in donations from across the country for wildfire relief efforts, said Cheekwan Ho, communications manager for the B.C.-Yukon branch. That does not include matching-fund commitments from bodies such as the federal government.
Ho said evacuees that have made it to B.C. are still eligible for support from the Red Cross.
Anyone wishing to donate can go online to Redcross.ca, phone 1-800-418-1111 or visit the office on Fairfield Avenue. To make a $10 donation, you can text FIRES to 45678 and to make a $5 donation you can text REDCROSS to 30333.
Donations to B.C. Liquor Stores in support of Fort McMurray relief efforts tripled over the weekend, the Ministry Responsible for the Liquor Distribution Branch said Monday. More than $240,000 has been raised in five days and B.C. Liquor Stores will continue collecting donations for the Canadian Red Cross.