Red Cross Fund Allocates $2 Million to Fire-Affected Communities
(Slave Lake AB, July 11, 2012) The Canadian Red Cross is proud to announce the results of the Northern Alberta Wildfires Community Project Fund. The $2 million fund will provide financial support to groups in communities impacted by the 2011 Northern Alberta wildfires and subsequent flood.
A committee, comprising of community leaders and Red Cross volunteers, selected 23 different projects to receive funding. The selected projects will help build capacity within fire-affected communities and maintain key community gathering points .
“This is an exciting opportunity to rebuild the community,” said Steve Armstrong, Alberta Provincial Director, Canadian Red Cross. “The projects that the committee selected will really impact the lives of fire-affected residents and the community at large.”
The volunteer committee had nearly 50 different projects to consider.
“It was a tough decision to make,” said Kate Wood, volunteer chairperson of the committee. “There were a lot of projects to choose from, but the committee worked hard to pick the strongest candidates.”
The committee selected projects ranging in size from providing hot lunches to students to repairing the roof of a local community organization.
Proposed projects were evaluated on a variety of criteria including their impact on the fire-affected areas, creativity, budget and project sustainability. To be considered for funding, community projects must have met one of the four objectives:
- Benefit members of communities affected by the 2011 Northern Alberta Wildfires and/or subsequent flooding;
- Assist with community resources or programs eliminated or affected by the wildfires;
- Address imminent health and/or safety problems related to the wildfires;
- Better prepare for future disasters.
The Canadian Red Cross is committed to helping rebuild the communities affected by the largest disaster in Alberta’s history. In addition to providing immediate disaster response, the Canadian Red Cross has worked with communities to identify specific needs.
Other community development projects have already been approved including $400,000 for rent and improvements for the interim Slave Lake library, supply of a new dishwasher for Centennial Daycare, and first aid kits, among many others. These funds for these projects were allocated from the overall donations and will not impact this new Community Projects Fund. For the full list of projects approved to date, see www.redcross.ca/slavelake.
The Canadian Red Cross is a member of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, which includes the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, the International Committee of the Red Cross and 187 National Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. Our mission is to improve the lives of vulnerable people by mobilizing the power of humanity in Canada and around the world.
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For More information please contact:
Tracie Moore
Communications Manager
Canadian Red Cross
403-542-6963
