BC Flood Relief 2021 campaign wraps up with the final installment of aid towards reconstruction of homes for the needy, in Merritt BC, handed over to Rotary Club of Merritt, BC, on 6th April 2022. The cheque for C$ 3000 was handed over by our lead volunteer in BC, Chary Ji. A good part of this final installment was fund raised by School children in Calgary & Edmonton. Our gratitude to these children for stepping up to serve. A total of $26,500 was raised and disbursed for relief, rehabilitation and reconstruction activities for this project. Gratitude to all of our donors and volunteers in British Columbia and Alberta, who served on the ground, in very challenging situations, delivering/distributing this aid.

BC Floods – On 23rd December, volunteers from our Calgary chapter delivered CAD$ 10,000 of aid to severely flood impacted City of Merritt, BC. Our volunteers drove a total of 1400 Kms from Calgary to Merritt and back in severe winter conditions, over 2 days, including road closures due to Avalanche warnings.

Guru Nanak Food Bank BC & Sewa Canada International volunteers worked in collaboration, to collect and provide emergency food relief to the victims. To know more about Guru Nanak Food Bank, visit https://www.gnfb.ca/

Our youth volunteers at Calgary and other volunteers procures required essentials (based on a list provided by local city authorities) from Costco, totaling about CAD $10,000 for flood victims returning to the badly effected and evacuated city of Merritt, BC. They are currently enroute from Calgary, AB to Merritt BC – a 800 Kilometre drive in winter conditions

Past Friday, Sewa Canada International provided approx. CAD $10,000 in aid – 100 School kits with essentials for children, Food & Bread, new socks, new blankets and new essential wear/undergarments, for distribution for the Flood effected victims in Princeton/Merritt areas, through the Princeton City’s Mayor’s office/agencies, Baptist Church, Food Bank and local School Board.

Flood warnings and evacuation alerts remain in place as British Columbia looks towards ways to rebuild. Mudslides and extensive waters have damaged highways and disrupted transportation routes. This week our volunteers on the ground in Kelowna have continued to procure and distribute essentials as required by the food banks and city officials in Kelowna, Merritt and Princeton. They have also been fundraising in Kelowna to help us do more. The Summerland Hindu Temple made an initial donation of CAD$ 1,000. More donations are expected this week from their donation drive. The Yellow Cab Union has also generously donated essentials for Merritt. Also procured 100 School bag kits (filled with essentials for children returning to school), for distribution to the needy shortly

Essentials needs & food for those in need loaded up by our volunteers in Vancouver, in a van destined to for flood effected Abbotsford, BC. The shipment will be handed over to the Abbotsford Hindu Mandir, who will distribute it to the needy in the flood impacted areas of Abbotsford.

Over the past weekend, our volunteers ran multiple campaigns at different sites across Vancouver to collect essential donations for the BC Floods relief effort. These includes many hundred new blankets, jackets, socks donated by Punjab Cloth House. Various essential donations as required on the ground including food donations were facilitated by Sangam Mandir, Ram Mandir & Lakshmi Narayan Mandir in Vancouver. Our gratitude to all of these organizations for their gratitude. Most of these donations will make its way to Abbotsford tomorrow by road. Abbotsford has been hit by floods again, today. The rest will be dispatched to Merritt, BC, if we can get them on a flight on Thursday.

200 pounds of Royal Canin Pet Food procured by Sewa Canada International was handed over to BC SPCA (BCSPCA) at their Vancouver branch, by our volunteers today, for distribution in Flood effected areas of BC, to feed animals in need & distress, that they are caring for in these difficult times.

560 loaves of bread was handed over today to the Food Bank at Kelowna. Flights have not resumed due to bad weather. Land transport to Kelowna from Lower Mainland are facing adverse weather and road conditions and hence stalled. We are exploring bringing in supplies from the East i.e. Calgary in the interim until the weather clears.