Smoke rises from an area burned by the Shovel Lake wildfire near Endako, B.C., late Thursday, August 16, 2018. The Shovel Lake wildfire is more than 680 square kilometres in size and is the largest of the more than 500 fires burning across the province. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

Smoke rises from an area burned by the Shovel Lake wildfire near Endako, B.C., late Thursday, August 16, 2018. The Shovel Lake wildfire is more than 680 square kilometres in size and is the largest of the more than 500 fires burning across the province. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

Four Rivers Co-op collecting donations for wildfire relief

The co-op is matching all donations they receive for the Red Cross

  • Aug. 17, 2018 12:00 a.m.

Four Rivers Co-op is activating their Fire Relief Fund, a fund they’ve run for the last two years to collect (and match) donations for fire evacuees in Western Canada.

They started the fund during the Fort McMurray fire in 2016 and continued it during the B.C. fires in 2017. This year, the funds raised will also go back to the B.C. wildfire relief efforts — but they’ll end up a little closer to home.

“This year the fires aren’t just in our neighbouring yards, they’re right here,” says Renee Dick, the marketing coordinator for Four Rivers Co-op. “A number of our employees are being impacted and being evacuated because of the wildfires that are burning around us.”

READ MORE: B.C. wildfires 2018: Hazy skies impacting crews in spotting new fires

Last year, the company collected more than $20,000, matching it with their own money to donate over $40,000 to the Red Cross for wildfire relief.

“It’s part of our responsibility,” says Dick. “We are so invested in our community … this is one way that we can show more support for our communities and give our community members a way to help out, knowing that their dollar is going to go twice as far.”

In Quesnel, donations can be made at the agro/convenience store at 1280 Quesnel-Hixon Road. In Vanderhoof, donations are also being collected at the Four Rivers Co-op home centre, administration office, food store, gas bar and petroleum office, while their petroleum stores in Houston and Terrace are also collecting donations. In Prince George, donations can be made at the Cardlock location at 998 Railway Road and the Westgate Gas Bar at 6749 Westgate Avenue.


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