EDMONTON -- About 50 employees at Rabbit Hill Snow Resort worked for free Sunday night in an effort to raise $10,000 for fire relief efforts on Australia Day.
The ski hill, on the southwest outskirts of Edmonton, sold $25 evening lift tickets, hosted a BBQ and offered lessons, donating all proceeds to Australia.
Bushfires there have killed 28 people while consuming millions of hectares of land. Officials estimate a half-billion animals have also perished.
“There’s not a resort you can go to in western Canada that doesn’t have an Australian,” Rabbit Hill General Manager Derek Look said at the hill on Sunday.
“They’re such a big part of it, we wanted to give back and do whatever we can.”
Look said he doesn’t have any Aussie employees this year, but they’ve had many in past seasons so getting current employees to volunteer for the fundraiser was easy.
“No one is getting paid. We’re not getting paid for the use of anything. We’re open just for this event, just so we can raise as much money as possible, so we can send it off to Australia,” he explained.
The event was scheduled for 6 to 9 p.m., and Look hoped to see 500 people attend.
“It feels good to help out,” said ski instructor Jennie Hughes, who referred to Alberta’s own recent experience with devastating wildfires.
“We know what it’s like to have our home on fire, so I think it’s a great cause.”
Canada has already sent about 100 firefighters and experts to Australia to help combat the fires, and more are scheduled to leave this week.
With files from The Canadian Press
