Montreal

Here's how you can help the Montreal flood relief effort

Looking to help? Here's what you need to know if you want to lend a hand to relief efforts.

Volunteers being asked to head to municipal buildings to help with filling, delivering sandbags

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was in Terrasse-Vaudreuil on Sunday, helping to fill sandbags. (submitted by Chris Paine)

Volunteers looking to pitch in and help out with the flood relief effort are being asked to head over to a number of local municipal buildings to fill and deliver sandbags.

Île-Bizard-Sainte−Geneviève is asking for volunteers at 406 Montée de l'Église Street Monday. Authorities there are asking that people wear warm clothes and that volunteers be aged 14 and up, since the work is physically demanding, and there are a lot of trucks and loaders driving around.

The municipalities of Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue, Senneville and Hudson have been overwhelmed by the response of volunteers and are no longer seeking people to help with flood relief.

Some kids in Vaudreuil volunteered to help out by shovelling sand and helping to fill bags Sunday morning. (Debra Arbec/CBC)

In other parts of the West Island, citizens are coming together to lend a hand to the relief effort.

People in Vaudreuil are gathering at 2555 Dutrisac Street behind city hall as of 9 a.m. Monday to fill sandbags.

People are being asked to wear proper footwear such as work boots or steel-toed boots and bring gloves and rain gear with them.

Anyone with a pickup truck or truck with a trailer and a spare a few hours is being asked to help with delivering sandbags.

The Fairview shopping centre in Pointe-Claire has also set up a food drive where people can drop off and pick up any food supplies during the flood.

Members of a local church group have been helping out in Pierrefonds, bagging sand for residents. (Jay Turnbull/CBC)

Seeking donations

The Red Cross has announced a fund to help people affected by the floods in Quebec, saying the needs will be "immense."

The money will be used to help people once they return home to pay for things such as cleanup, rebuilding and replacing furniture.

The Quebec government has put half a million dollars into the fund, and Public Security Minister Martin Coiteux is asking Quebecers to be generous.

Thousands have been forced to leave their homes across the province as floodwaters continued to rise over the weekend. (Charles Contant/Radio-Canada)

West Island Community Shares, a group that distributes funding towards 40 different non-profit groups in the West Island, will also be collecting money for flood victims.

On Monday, the group's board of directors approved the set-up of a special fund.

"We will collect funds and transfer 100 per cent of the funds to specific groups working on the front lines to support flood victims, for example West Island Assistance Mission, West Island Mission, On Rock," said Leanne Bayer, Executive Director of West Island Community Shares.