Province and Ottawa match Red Cross donations for wildfire relief

The federal and provincial governments have announced they will match donations to the Canadian Red Cross (CRC) 2024 Alberta Wildfires Appeal.

“The Red Cross put out a call on July 25th. And just like last fire season, we’re announcing that we’re going to match that amount over the next 30 days. So we’re hoping that people will go online to the Red Cross and donate,” Alberta Premier Danielle Smith said at a news conference Friday.

“One of the reasons why it’s so important to have the Red Cross programs is that the Red Cross can often partner with local community groups and identify those needs with local chambers of commerce, local food banks, animal shelters, local homeless shelters. They kind of act as an aggregator for all of those contributions. So we’re happy to match it and the federal government is happy to match it,” Smith said.

Harjit Sajjan, federal emergency minister, said the federal government would match donations to CRC in addition to Alberta. More details about the program will be announced soon.

“Donations to the Canadian Red Cross will be used to assist those affected in Jasper and other affected areas in Alberta with immediate and ongoing assistance, including financial assistance, support for evacuees and the communities hosting them, recovery and resilience efforts in response to the wildfires, as well as support for community preparedness and risk reduction for future large-scale disasters in Alberta,” CRC said in a statement about the Alberta Wildfires Appeal.

The CRC is already providing assistance to displaced Jasper residents at its evacuation centre in Edmonton. It is registering people affected by the Jasper wildfires in Edmonton so that they can provide shelter and information, emergency shelter, personal services, emotional support and referrals to other available resources in the community.

On Thursday, officials reported that 436 evacuees from Jasper had arrived at the Kennedale Site, Building #2, located at 12814-58 St. in Edmonton, with more expected to arrive in the days ahead.

Donations to the Alberta Wildfires Appeal can be made at www.redcross.ca, by calling 1-800-418-1111 or by texting ABFIRES to 45678 to donate $10.