On the donor road: Red Cross only accepting financial donations to help Slave Lake evacuees

It started within 24 hours. Super generous kind-hearted Canadians setting up facebook groups, events and online communities devoted to helping the people of Slave Lake and surrounding areas recover from a devastating wildfire

Destruction in Slave Lake area from wildfires

The wildfires that swept through the Slave Lake area devastated many homes and businesses. (image courtesy of Shane O'Brien, hosted on Flickr: http://bit.ly/iFqGdG)

that destroyed nearly half the town. Others posted questions on our facebook account asking how they could help. Clothes, furniture, you name it, people wanted to donate it – in some cases through the Canadian Red Cross – to the people of Slave Lake. It’s a devotion and compassion that really demonstrates the humanity and generosity of Canadians. But as an aid organization focusing on disasters, the Canadian Red Cross has learned from previous experience that the best way to help those in need is through monetary donations. For us, a financial donation enables us to really zero in on the needs of aid recipients and target our help in a way that maximizes the benefit to them. We can purchase a needed item right in the community where it is needed, reducing warehouse and shipping costs in the process. We can also follow up in the weeks and months ahead, providing for unmet needs as an individual or family starts rebuilding their lives. Not all needs are known in the beginning. Having earmarked funds enables us to follow up with our clients down the road, providing them with vouchers for specific supplies or other supports when and where they need it (related press release).

distributing aid

Red Cross distributes many types of goods following a disaster, including hygiene kits and clean-up kits, as well as other items based on unmet needs as families begin to recover from a disaster.

Which bring us back to the super generous kind-hearted Canadians and their facebook groups, email queries and facebook posts. I had the honour of chatting with some of these folks all morning yesterday. And I have to say, I continue to be tremendously impressed. Though some may have been disappointed that we weren’t taking donations of goods, many helped spread the word, informing their contacts how or where they could make a financial donation to the Canadian Red Cross. So from us here at the Canadian Red Cross: A big thank you once again for your compassion and support! We all have the same goal, we are just taking different roads to get there.

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