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Many Canadians enjoy boating each summer. Unfortunately, the season doesn't end happily for everyone. While the number of boating related fatalities has decreased over the last 10 years, according to Canadian Red Cross statistics, an average of 125 Canadians die each year while boating. As a Director with Canadian Safe Boating Council, I am saddened to see that the vast majority of these fatalities are preventable.

It’s World Refugee Day on June 20^th and to mark it, we’re highlighting some of our stories from this year on the challenges and successes of those who had to flee their homes.

Moving homes is always a daunting task with many details to remember, organize or update. Whether you’re moving into a new house or renting an apartment, the task of packing and moving is challenging enough, so make it easier with these tips.

Volunteer André Robert has participated in many major Red Cross responses, including the train explosion in Lac-Mégantic and the Syrian refugee arrival, and has worked for various NGOs over the course of his career.

For long-time Fort McMurray resident Jessica Weber, it was a surreal experience returning to the home where she had grown up after last May’s devastating fire. Fire crews weren’t able to reach the house, which was on an acreage that had been in her family for three generations. 

They shuffle across the dirt threshold. The older ones lean on others for support. Some are too weak to walk and are transported in on a mattress by a team of concerned relatives. Younger children are carried, limp and listless in the arms of their worried parents. All in obvious signs of distress. They do not know what’s wrong with them. They only hope the medical staff of the Canadian Red Cross Health Emergency Response Unit (ERU) can help them feel better.

Darrin Bourque peers out across what remains of the forest that surrounds his family’s trapline. Scorched trees, reminiscent of giant toothpicks, replace the once dense boreal forest associated with the landscape of northern Alberta.

Read how the Canadian Red Cross, with support from the Government of Canada, was able to provide much needed support to vulnerable communities during Hurricane Matthew in Haiti. When the storm hit, and as time followed, the Red Cross worked to meet immediate needs on the ground, provide important supplies, and travel to hard-to-reach areas to deliver medical care.