Last week the Fergus Legion made its largest single donation to date.
On June 15, Branch 275 of the Royal Canadian Legion donated $15,000 to the Canadian Red Cross to aid Fort McMurray wildfire relief efforts.
“Dominion Command said that the Legions across the country could donate some money from their poppy fund to that disaster fund,” said Ray Pearse, 2015 poppy chairman.
Donations to the Red Cross during May were matched by the federal government. Pearse said Fergus Legion officials rushed to make the donation before the cutoff date.
Karen Charles, manager of planning and development for Red Cross in Ontario, accepted the donation.
“We’re very grateful to Canadians and very grateful to your Legion here for the incredible donations that you’ve made today,” she said.
Canadian Red Cross has accepted $131 million in donations to date, most of it prior to the May 31 cut off date for federal fund matching.
“It means so much to the people we’re helping, and that’s why we’re really the conduit to get the money into the people’s hands,” said Charles.
“So that’s what is so exciting for us … the generosity can do so much good for the people that were impacted by this tragic fire.”
Charles explained Red Cross’ initial transfer was the largest in Canadian history – in 48 hours $50 million went to victims through an e-transfer.
As of June 13, the Fort McMurray wildfire was classified as being “held,” meaning officials do not believe the fire will grow anymore.
The wildfire was discovered on May 1 and about 80,000 residents were put under a mandatory evacuation order on May 3.
Around 2,400 structures were destroyed. Residents have been slowly allowed back to the city since June 1.
The fire grew to 589,617 hectares in size, including a portion that crossed over into Saskatchewan on May 19.
