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North Bayites stepping up for traveling Fort McMurray families

“What we do is we network their route throughout our whole system and we have angels in different cities that will meet up with these families.”
fortmcmurrayfamilymay2016
Fort McMurray mother Dana Lucas and her seven-year-old son Hayden lost their home and were greeted with generosity here in North Bay on Wednesday. Photo submitted by Karrie Emms.

Karrie Emms remembers a very helpless moment of her life. 

As a single mother of a four-year-old and a six-year-old, Emms car broke down on the Trans Canada Highway about 10 kilometres from the Geraldton, Ontario turnoff.   

“We had a truck driver was the only vehicle that stopped in a three-hour span, it was the middle of winter,” recalled Emms. 

“Him and his wife stopped and it was the middle of winter. Him and his wife stopped and me and my kids got into his truck and took us to a hotel and arranged for a garage to pick up our car the next morning and I never did get their name.”

Emms has never forgotten that.  While it isn’t 30 below outside now, Emms sees a parallel with helpless Fort McMurray families who are traveling away from the forest fire disaster. 

“These total strangers in the middle of the night (helped us) and I guess when I think of people traveling with nothing, that concerns me,” she said. 

So Emms is working with the Canadian Angel Network, a social network which is connecting helpful angels from different communities with needy Fort McMurray families who need financial aid to get home to the East Coast.  

“We are connecting this those families and once we verify their story, like some piece of I.D. to show who they are,” she said.  

“What we do is we network their route throughout our whole system and we have angels in different cities that will meet up with these families.”  

Emms has also connected with Christine Johnson, who created a similar Facebook page “North Bay Supporting Fort McMurray.   

Emms says they have helped six families come through North Bay and expect at least another three by the end of the long weekend.  

Creative Learning has agreed to be a hub for local residents to drop off loaded gas or restaurant cards that can be given to traveling families.  

“We are collecting clothing, but only where there is a special need, we don’t want to be considered a distribution centre,” noted Emms.  

On Wednesday, the volunteers helped out a Mother along with her seven-year-old son.  They gave the Mother a gas card, restaurant card along with a bag of toys donated by Creative Learning and Junior World.  

“It’s the looks on the faces, the seven-year-old yesterday, he got that bag from Creative Learning and he just went ‘Lego!’ and that just makes it worth while,” said Emms about the cause.  

Emms expects traveling families to continue to make their way through the area at least for the next month.  

Anyone interesting in donating to the cause can email Karrie at [email protected] or go to both facebook pages here:  https://www.facebook.com/TheCanadianAngelNetwork1/ or North Bay Supporting Fort McMurray at: https://www.facebook.com/North-Bay-supporting-Fort-McMurray-255623744791200/

 


Chris Dawson

About the Author: Chris Dawson

Chris Dawson has been with BayToday.ca since 2004. He has provided up-to-the-minute sports coverage and has become a key member of the BayToday news team.
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