After being hosted as wildfire evacuees in 2017, a family in the Williams Lake area hopes local residents will help pay it forward.
150 Mile House resident Chuck Casselton and his wife Kelly have started the Williams Lake Fire Relief Effort to collect donations for wildfire evacuees along Highway 16.
Read more: Some residents south of Burns Lake refuse to evacuate
Cassleton and their children Hunter and Charlie have been parked beside the Canadian Tire garden centre since Sunday and will continue through today (Wednesday) from 10 a.m to 4 p.m.
Originally Casselton was going to collect until Tuesday only, but told the Tribune Wednesday he has decided to be there one more day.
“We are getting somewhere,” he said.
Casselton is passionate about helping because his family was hosted last summer during the evacuation in the Fraser Lake area by Sharon Miller-Kitchen.
They were in Richmond delivering Hunter to the airport when the fires broke out on July 7 and 150 Mile House was evacuated.
The family spent four days in Kamloops, but then made their way to Prince George because a neighbour had taken their five cats and two dogs there when they evacuated.
“We went up the Yellowhead and around to Prince George and registered with the Red Cross there and then went to Fraser Lake where our pets actually ended up at our neighbours’ friend’s place,” Casselton said.
“Five adults, my son, six cats and four dogs, stayed in a two-bedroom cottage for 15 days. The owner was a Fort McMurray evacuee from the previous year. Now she is evacuated from her cottage that we stayed in and is in Fort McMurray.”
The Casseltons have lived in the Williams Lake area for six years and are originally from Northwest Ontario.
He owns his own business, Lakecity Lift.
Items sought are non-perishable food items, bottled water, Gatorade, new clothing for kids and adults, new kids toy and diapers, as well as new pet supplies, pet foods, senior citizen necessities, new tooth brushes, and hygiene products.
They are not accepting cash or gifts cards or any fresh food.
Read more: Shovel Lake Fire update as of Aug. 21
news@wltribune.comLike us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter
