There’s a truck full of clothes and bedding on its way to B.C. wildfire evacuees, thanks to B.C. Vintage Truck Museum members and volunteers.
Following the museum’s annual general meeting, they have about 25 “big bags of clothing” to donate, according to Anna Dean, museum secretary.
For Dean, it’s all down to being a good neighbour.
The B.C. Vintage Truck Museum, which operates out of the Cloverdale fairgrounds, is just steps away from the Cloverdale evacuation centre at the Cloverdale Arena.
Thousands of evacuees have registered at the site, but none have made use of the overnight cots at the centre so far. Thirteen RVs are set up on the fairgrounds, however, making use of the Cloverdale Rodeo’s offer of free RV hookups for wildfire evacuees.
“We went over to talk to them because they’re so close to us,” said Dean. “We thought we’d go talk to them as a good neighbour, you know.”
The museum offered free admission to the people living in the RVs on the site to “offer them a bit of a diversion,” she said, and Dean asked the evacuation centre how they could best help.
The centre – which is not able to take in donations – recommended that the museum connect with a local Salvation Army, where they could give what they could.
The museum put out a call to their members and volunteers for donations. “We were so pleased with the response,” said Dean. “We had members we hadn’t seen in a long time come out with donations.”
The museum will take the donated clothing and bedding to a nearby Salvation Army clothing depot, where volunteers will sort the donations and send them to where they are needed most.
Dean said the museum was happy to be able to help out.
The Cloverdale site evacuees are “really happy with how the community has responded to them, that’s the first thing any of them told me,” said Dean.
“Hopefully, they’ll be able to go home soon.”
Donations of goods and cash can be made to Salvation Army locations in Surrey, White Rock, Delta, Langley and New Westminster. Learn more at thriftstore.ca. Monetary donations can also be made to Red Cross at redcross.ca.
If you’d like to learn about volunteering at the centre, visit the City of Surrey’s Emergency Social Services page.
Do you have a story about a person or group in Cloverdale who are responding to the B.C. Wildfire crisis? We’d love to hear your story. Send us a note at editor@cloverdalereporter.com.