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Here when needed

In the span of a few hours, 80,000 people from the Fort McMurray area were abruptly forced to evacuate the area. Some lost their homes, their jobs, their memories and their old lives.

In the span of a few hours, 80,000 people from the Fort McMurray area were abruptly forced to evacuate the area. Some lost their homes, their jobs, their memories and their old lives. All will have to start over, whether its in a new city or a new Fort McMurray.

The fire swept through the region – a growing inferno reaching almost 200,000 hectares and is now threatening Saskatchewan.

But in the face of this massive devastation, people are reaching out to help. This fact has been proven all over Alberta.

Here in Athabasca, Boyle, Grassland and Wandering River, the communities have banded together, giving shelter to those who had none, food to fill their hungry bellies and more clothes than just the ones on their back.

Grassland Hall, the Athabasca Agriplex and the Boyle Community Centre are filled to the brim with donations from Edmonton, Fort Saskatchewan and beyond.

But the overflowing generosity is more than what can be contained in those rooms.

There are more homes available than there are people to fill them.

Our local fire departments have joined the ranks of more than 500 firefighters battling the blaze in the north.

Aspen View Public Schools has taken in students so that life for them can return back to normal, or as much as it can in times like these.

Our community has stepped up in this time of need and without being called upon by government officials.

And it’s not just here. It’s everywhere.

Displaced Fort McMurray residents will need to rebuild their lives in the coming months and years, and volunteers will be there right beside them, assisting in any way they can.

It is so easy to be divided by trivial things and fundamental beliefs.

It’s assuring to know that when a stranger is in trouble, our little community, our province, our nation – and even our world – can come together with a helping hand and a shoulder to lean on.

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