MMF looks for 2nd wave of donations in 2nd wave of wildfire evacuations

The Manitoba Métis Federation has rebooted its request for donations for wildfire evacuees as the province is swept up in a second state of emergency and another exodus from communities.

"The need is extreme, and I say the word extreme very, very seriously. We have thousands of evacuees that are in the city of Winnipeg [and] the city of Brandon," said Stephanie Meilleur, director of the Red River Métis community resource department.

"At this time, both the province as well as the Canadian Red Cross are working around the clock to secure more congregate centres as further communities continue to evacuate."

As of last week, at least 13,000 people were registered with the Red Cross as evacuees, and that number is growing, with three out of four Island Lake communities also preparing for evacuations.

The military began removing people from Garden Hill Anisininew Nation on CC-130 Hercules transport airplanes on Friday, and said that as of Sunday afternoon, more than 1,550 had been flown to Winnipeg.

The community is about 500 kilometres north of Winnipeg and is not accessible by road.

Manitoba declared its second provincewide state of emergency of the year last week as wildfires continue to rage.

Evacuees are limited to taking only the bare essentials, which means there's a big need once they get to safety.

To help them out, the MMF reopened its donation and evacuation centre at 406 McGregor St. in Winnipeg's North End.

"We call it retail therapy for evacuees, and in there, we have clothing for all genders, we have a baby room as well as a shoe room, we have a pet supplies," Meilleur said.

There are also hot meals, bottled water, snacks and non-perishable foods.

The centre also provides hygiene products, but those supplies are limited and are at the top of the MMF's donation wish list.

"We are extremely low on that — everything from deodorant, toothbrushes, toothpaste, shampoo, conditioner, body wash, razors — all those things that we all keep in our bathrooms and take them for granted. These are the things that evacuees do not have right now," Meilleur said.

Another vital need is anything for babies, such as formula and bottles but also strollers and car seats.

"A young family with young little ones cannot take their stroller with them on aircraft as they are evacuating most of these communities. They're fly-in only, so they're arriving with no way of actually being able to get around with their little ones," Meilleur said.

"So we are in desperate need of strollers."

Michael Birch, who is originally from Garden Hill Anisininew Nation, has been volunteering at the McGregor Street location this week and using his own social media contacts to try to get donations. 

Birch also many of the evacuees have faced chaos since they got to Winnipeg. 

"There's a bit of a state of panic right now with a lot of these people," Birch said. "There's some real sad stories that are happening with these people. 

"There's a grandma, for instance, that came down with not a lot of notice but brought four of her grandkids, so of course they ran out of clothing and didn't bring enough supplies, so those are the people we want to get to help."

Birch worries about people and families going hungry while evacuated.

"There's a lot of people staying in random hotels that really don't have any food," he said. 

Donations are accepted at 25 Ray Marius Rd. in the St. Boniface Industrial Park. The McGregor Street centre is primarily a drop-in centre where evacuees can find what they need. (Donations get transported there from the St. Boniface warehouse.)

However, the generosity of the public will not be turned down at the McGregor site, Meilleur said.

"We try to encourage everyone to go to our donation drop-off warehouse … but just keeping in mind for those that can't make it to 25 Ray Marius, we will still accept donations at 406 McGregor."

Both locations are open from 10 a.m. until 5 p.m. daily.

"Now is the time we need you to help donate. We need those gently used items that you have at home that you feel that an evacuee would need, because we are in a state of emergency and we have so many poor people from the north that are coming down and need these supplies," Meilleur said.