EDMONTON -- Fours years ago, Dave Gordon was gathering donations for Fort McMurray wildfire evacuees, and on Tuesday he was back at it.
This time, Gordon is loading as many trucks and trailers as he can with relief items for Wood Buffalo residents who were forced to flee the flood.
"It’s not fair, what they’re going through. They don’t deserve it. I’m from there, it’s a beautiful town with beautiful people," Gordon said.
Now a Fort Saskatchewan resident, Gordon is gathering non-perishable food items, toiletries, baby formula, diapers, bottled water and other necessities to truck up north on Friday.
On May 1, 2016 a raging wildfire destroyed more than 3,200 buildings, and forced everyone out of Fort McMurray.
Since then, residents have had to deal with declining property values, layoffs caused in part by record-low oil prices, businesses ordered closed by the global COVID-19 pandemic and now the flood that saw thousands more evacuated.
The combination of coronavirus closures and low oil prices has the province predicting unemployment rates to reach 25 per cent, making 2020 even harder than 2016 to ask Albertans to contribute, Gordon said.
"I definitely feel guilty asking. I know so many people are going through a tough time. But there are some people, like I can help, so I’m hoping other people that can help will join me," Gordon said.
Gordon and other volunteers will be accepting donations Wednesday and Thursday from 5 to 9 p.m., at the Bears Den parking lot in downtown Fort Saskatchewan.
At the same times, another donation trailer will be set up and staffed by volunteers at the Average Joes Sports Bar parking lot on Baseline Road in Sherwood Park.
