Our communities continue to step up and do what they can to support Northern Manitoba wildfire relief efforts.
This summer, members of several of our local fire departments took to the streets during the many community festivals that took place - using the regular boot drive to raise funds for the Canadian Red Cross.
Among them, the St. Jean Fire Department which partnered with two other services to help bring in about $4,000.
The first boot drive, in tandem with the Letellier Fire Department, happened during the Montcalm Heritage Festival in St. Joseph at the beginning of June. There, parade spectators dropped enough change into the boot to raise $1,500.
"For the crowd we have in St. Joe, with the smallest parade, I think we do really well," said Eugene Fillion, Chief of the St. Jean Fire Department. "I'm really impressed."
Related stories:
Most recently, members joined forces with the Morris Fire Department to pass the boot around during the Morris Stampede parade just two weeks ago. Together, they raised just over $2,513.
"It's funny. When I started as Fire Chief, I said we'll start doing boot drives and people looked at me wondering, 'what's a boot drive?'," said Fillion. "So, I explained it and the first drive we did in St. Joe we raised about twenty bucks and now, we're averaging about a thousand per parade. It's unbelievable."
Donations to the 2025 Manitoba Wildfires Appeal continue to be accepted.