With more than 18,000 evacuees now registered and 21 communities having declared local states of emergency due to wildfires, people across the province are stepping up to help.
One local group leading the charge is the South Eastman Rotary Club.
Member Kris Ontong says the community was eager to respond, but unsure of where to begin.
“We all know that there are wildfires happening throughout the province. We have that province-wide emergency that's been released by the provincial government, and people are asking, everybody is asking here in Steinbach, what are we doing about it? How can we help?”
Ontong explains that service organizations like Rotary are expected to take action during times like this.
“Sure enough, I sent a couple of messages to the membership and Jo-Anne (Dalton) was the quickest to respond and she made some calls and now we got to put together this wonderful initiative between generous local partners for a donation drive for all those wildfire evacuees.”
Working together with the Southeast Event Centre, the Rotary Club has set up a donation drop-off site in Steinbach. From there, items will be delivered to organizations in Winnipeg who are coordinating the larger relief effort.
“We actually partnered with the Southern Chiefs Organization and other Indigenous organizations based in Winnipeg because they're the ones who receive all of those donations coming from different parts of the province, they're coordinating a lot of that. They have the whole second floor of the RBC Convention Centre for collecting all donations coming from all parts.”
Ontong says his heart goes out to the evacuees.
“They've been forced to leave their homes. They were not prepared for that. They only had a few minutes to get things ready and put them in a to-go bag.”
The donation drive is currently accepting items such as clothing, toiletries, baby supplies, and non-perishable food.
“I have to give a shout-out to the Southeast Event Centre because they were nice enough and they were generous enough to let us borrow their huge space for the drop-off point there.”
Donations can be dropped at the Southeast Event Centre on weekdays from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Volunteers will be on-site to assist.
Ontong also expressed gratitude for those who have made the effort possible.
“I have to give credit where credit is due. It's not just the sole effort of the Rotary Club of South Eastman. We are in partnership with some generous community allies here, mainly the Southeast Event Centre and also the Steinbach Chamber of Commerce, because they're going to feature the initiative in their weekly newsletter,” he says.
“It's time to show what compassion and action truly means.”
Other local businesses are also getting involved. OK Tire in Landmark is collecting donations on weekdays from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. until June 13. All collected items will be delivered to the RBC Convention Centre in Winnipeg.
With files from Kenton Dyck