Vernon is fighting the fire in Fort McMurray with compassion.
A collection centre has been established at Cidel Moving and Storage, with Atlas Van Lines shipping product to depots in Calgary and Edmonton for evacuees.
Essential items such as toothpaste, deodorant, brushes, two-in-one shampoo, body wash, razors, feminine hygiene products, toilet paper and diapers are a few of the things most needed.
“We’ve got a couple of pallets ready to go right now,” said Art Zoethout, Cidel operations manager. “It shows that people care.”
The collection was spearheaded by a Vernon resident who works in Fort McMurray and lost her rental townhouse to the fire.
“I feel terrible. My tenant lost everything, and he didn’t have insurance,” said Naomi Shaw, who works for Sincrude.
She has been off work since the mine shut down and wanted to do something to help.
“I’m sitting over here feeling useless.”
At first, Shaw started collecting items at her house, but later got in touch with Cidel, which agreed to act as a drop-off location, and Atlas Van Lines, which agreed to ship the items (across Canada both Cidel and Atlas are collecting and shipping items for evacuees).
For Shaw, the cause is particularly close to home, not just because of her personal loss, but that of her older sons and ex husband, who lost their home and everything they own.
“They (all evacuees) are still needing the basic necessities, it’s going to run out,” said Shaw.
“Anything that can be used right now because people left with just the clothes on their back. My son was one of them.”
While one of her sons had enough time to pack a few things, his brother was too late to return home.
The response of people coming by with items has been amazing.
“One woman was almost in tears. She brought four boxes of diapers, baby food and brand new baby toys with the tags still on them,” said Shaw, whose fellow Vernon BMX committee members and parents also pitched in with donations of everything from necessities to pencils and notepads for kids to draw and colour in.
“It makes me want to cry,” said Shaw.
“Every little thing helps — even if you have one spare toothbrush.”
This is particularly true for some of the less fortunate evacuees who don’t have any savings to rely on during this tough time. Shaw’s cousin is one such person, on low-income, whose husband is on disability and who evacuated with her three kids.
“She’s worried about phone minutes, she’s worried about food,” said Shaw.
Cidel welcomes donations at 2010 43rd St. between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. Monday to Friday.
“We’re not taking furniture or anything like that, it’s just essentials,” said Zoethout.