NGO hired to handle deluge of donations for Fort McMurray

The Alberta government has hired an international disaster relief organization to collect and distribute donations for victims of the Fort McMurray fires.

Adventist Development and Relief Agency, a U.S.-based nongovernmental organization, is being paid $1 million by the Alberta government for a contract that runs until the end of November.

It will manage a northwest Edmonton warehouse now filling up with donations, and oversee the distribution of the goods collected.

Minister of Municipal Affairs Danielle Larivee said the arrangement will take pressure off community agencies that have handled relief efforts since the evacuations started on May 3.

"Certainly the long-term management in terms of co-ordinating and consolidating the collection of those resources will work best in the long term and allow everyone from those volunteer organizations to get a little bit back to their normal," Larivee said. "Because it's been quite a challenge for them."

Inside the expansive warehouse are pallets of shrink-wrapped boxes filled with everything from Star Wars gummy candies, to pet bedding and new Spandex pants.

Volunteer Sharon Long, a retired public servant, said she has heard many stories of great need.

"One lady said she was going back up because she has to have her chemotherapy," Long said. "Some other people are there saying everything is gone."

Being able to offer comfort, Long said, is the reason she will continue sorting donations, and helping out for as long as it takes.

Though donations have poured in from  across the country, more new items are needed, said Larivee. Topping the list is canned meat, followed by peanut butter and baby food and formula.

ADRA is a humanitarian society operated by the Seventh-day Adventist Church.

It has international relief experience in some of the most devastating disasters in recent history, including Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Sandy.