THUNDER BAY -- Residents fleeing fires in Fort McMurray, Alta. often left with little more than the clothes on their back.
Many, with no homes to return to, are spreading out across the country, heading back to home communities as far east as Atlantic Canada.
A group of Thunder Bay volunteers is trying to make that trek a little less harried and have set up a donation depot for travelers to find all sorts of necessities they might need to complete their journey, from toiletries and diapers to pet food and clothes.
It’s the least they could do, said Valarie Midgley, owner of The Whole Nine Yards, who is housing the makeshift operation in an empty storefront adjacent to her Fort William Road business.
“It breaks your heart, because a fire can happen to anyone at any time. It’s so devastating because there is no going back and finding your belongings and your treasured things that make your memories that are part of your life,” Midgley said on Tuesday, a day after donations began pouring in thanks to a Facebook post made by fellow organizer Laura Plexman.
“To think that families are fleeing by the thousands, just to have their family about them, as Canadians we just have to do what we have to do to stand up and help these people.”
Plexman, who created the Thunder Bay Ontario Pit Stop for Fort McMurray Evacuees 2016 Facebook page, said they’re trying to collect as much as they can to help the cause, adding they are also looking for pre-paid Visa cards and gas cards, children’s DVDs as well as offers of rooms for overnight stays.
“It’s so they can take a rest, have a shower,” Plexman said.
Thunder Bay and its central location in the country make it a natural stopping point for travelers, she added.
“This is a great pit stop for them,” Plexman said.
The word has quickly begun to spread around social media and a quickly formed network of Canadians who want to help out.
Donations will be taken during regular store hours at the Whole Nine Yards, located at 899 Fort William Rd.
