As the horrifying images and stories about the wildfire in Fort McMurray began to flood the internet and airwaves last week, Jasperites stepped up in a big way offering everything and anything they could to help those displaced by the catastrophic wildfire.
At first it was just one or two businesses, but by the end of the week there was such an outpouring of support it was hard to keep up.
The Brew Pub鈥搘hich has a restaurant in Fort McMurray鈥搑aised $5,800 in a single day by donating all of its beer revenue to the relief effort. Together with its sister restaurants in Banff and Calgary the company raised more than $20,000.
鈥淚t's good to see Jasper stepping up as a community and doing their part to help the people that need help,鈥� said Alex Derksen, co-owner of the Brew Pub who fled the city with his wife and three young children.
He said six hotels have offered to host 25 of his employees from Fort McMurray for free and several restaurants have also offered to provide free meals.
鈥淸My staff] literally came down here with nothing. Some of them don't even have wallets,鈥� said Derksen, adding it's too early to know how long they might be in Jasper.
He said the business has insurance to cover his employees' wages, but a lot of his staff are dependent on tips to make a decent living.
鈥淭he problem is it covers their wages, but a lot of these people are servers and bartenders and those wages you can't really live off of, so they are going to continue to have a little bit of money come in, but it's not enough,鈥� said Derksen.
He said the business in Fort McMurray is still standing and he has every intention to return and open it again once they get the all clear.
鈥淚t's not going to force us to close down, but it might not open for three or four months,鈥� he said.
On top of the money that was raised by the Brew Pub, his six-year-old son, Dustin Derksen and a dozen other children, raised more than $5,000 selling lemonade over the course of four hours on May 7.
The lemonade stand was such a hit the fire department showed up with its ladder truck and even a bus taking graduates from Jasper Junior/Senior High School to their prom pulled over to show their support.
Several other businesses in town also stepped up. Karouzos Steakhouse raised more than $1,000 after it promised to donate 20 per cent of its revenue to the Red Cross, May 6. In an effort to raise more money it challenged other businesses in town to do the same.
Patricia Lake Bungalows was the first to accept the challenge and raised thousands more.
Alpine Village also accepted the challenge and donated a portion of their sales.聽 鈥淲e're all Albertans and we're an Albertan company and we've had lots of Fort McMurray guests so we just wanted to help however we could,鈥� said Rena Allin, who owns the hotel with her husband Chris.
In addition to donating money the hotel is also hosting a couple who lost two properties in Fort McMurray, and their daughter recently travelled to Edmonton to donate pillows and blankets for other evacuees.
And the donating didn't stop there.
The Downstream Lounge stepped up and promised to donate 50 per cent of all food and beverage sales for an entire week from May 7 to May 14.
Caribou Cabs also donated $650 after promising to donate 100 per cent of its revenue on May 6. The money will be split between the Red Cross and Alberta SPCA.
鈥淚t hits close to home and a lot of our roommates work up there, our customers come from there and they're from Alberta,鈥� said Ryan Ritums, co-owner of Caribou Cabs.
He said several of his drivers also decided to donate their earnings that day.
The Sawridge Inn and Conference Centre, which has two properties in Fort McMurray, confirmed it聽 reopened one of its properties for first responders to stay at and get some food and rest.
As of press time the Red Cross received more than $54 million in donations for Fort McMurray wildfire relief efforts. The latest total does not include matching funds promised by the provincial and federal governments. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has said that Ottawa will match individual donations to the Red Cross up to May 31, without a cap.
Donations can be made by visiting the Red Cross website, calling 1-800-418-1111, or texting the word 鈥淩EDCROSS鈥漷o 30333 to make a $5 donation.
Paul Clarke
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