The Secretary of the Saskatoon Lions Club Karen Harilstad says they applied for and received a $20,500 grant from Lions Clubs International Foundation to help wildfire evacuees. In addition, Lions clubs from all across Saskatchewan are sending in money. Their club is part of District 5 Saskatchewan North which encompasses 52 Lions clubs in the north half of Saskatchewan.

She said they met with EMOs from northern Saskatchewan as well as the FSIN and developed a plan where they decided to focus on Hudson Bay and then down the Highway 11 corridor. They coordinated their efforts as well with the Saskatoon Inn which was one of the hotels housing wildfire evacuees.

“And what’s really unique about service organizations is we can combine volunteer hours, donations and money to make a big impact, so we took hundreds and hundreds of pairs of socks and underwear.”

Harilstad has been acting as a liaison in Saskatoon with the FSIN and CUMFI to get the money and donations to the people who need it most.

“We’re working with Shirley Isbister at CUMFI so like right now we’re just driving away from dropping off $700 worth of diapers and formula and wipes.”

Harilstad says over the last number of weeks she has seen the true volunteerism and caring that people have in Saskatoon.

“Just thank to absolutely everybody who has helped us out, who has donated stuff, who has come out and helped us. It’s been good, it’s been really, really good. The response has been just amazing and we’re also providing hope to these evacuees just to let them know they’re not in it alone.” She says Saskatoon has really stepped up.