As recently reported in the Sooke News Mirror (“From Sunriver to High River,” July 10, 2013), two Sunriver residents recently undertook a fundraising effort to help residents of High River, Alberta, in their recovery efforts from the recent devastating floods.
Primarily through a bottle-drive, Jamie Newman and Tara Ferguson raised a total of $925. This money was sent to High River resident Brenda Campbell, who converted the money into gift cards and started handing them out.
Following are some of the comments Campbell sent back in an update:
“One recipient said ‘Thank you so much honey! Couldn’t have come at a better time, I have absolutely no groceries in the house.’
“My son and I stopped at one house that was clearly flooded out, and the owner came out and said hello. We gave him a gift card, and he quickly gave it back and asked if we could go across the street and give it to ‘that house,’ he pointed to the one across the street.
“As I was in the line getting the gift cards at the CO-OP the lady behind me asked, ‘are you getting all those cards to give away?’ I replied, ‘Yes, but that it was a gift from a community far from us in Sooke, B.C.’ She was so awestruck and thanked you all!
“One lady gave me a hug and thanked us, then said ‘It is this kinda of generosity and kindness that give us the strength to keep going.’ “
As the recent fire in Sooke has demonstrated, this is a strong, giving and caring community, capable of making a difference both here and elsewhere.
Campbell sums it up. “It has been just over a month now and there are still fridges, washer, dryers, piles of our lives out in a heap pile waiting for pick up by the loaders to take to the dump. Support like this does give us hope and strength, little gifts in life go a long long way to recovery. Thank you for that!”
