'Flood fairies' happy to help neighbours along Kennebecasis River

It took days of stacking sandbags to protect some homes from the rising Kennebecasis River.

Luckily, there were people willing to help.

Geneviève Roberge and Robyn Gardner Losier are just a couple of those who volunteered for a second year to move furniture, fill sandbags, haul them and help build barriers to keep the water away.

One homeowner dubbed them them "flood fairies."

"I've seen our community come together," said Gardner Losier.

"I'm not originally from this area, but I've been inspired by people I've met over the past couple of years."

Gardner Losier said through the flood relief effort, she and her family have made new friends of people they probably would never have met otherwise.

"For me, it's been a humbling experience," said Gardner Losier. "It's been a very rewarding experience to be part of my community and it's been a lesson to teach my children in how to get involved and how to help."

She and Roberge are now on a first-name basis with many of the people directly affected by flooding.

And they've gotten to know other community volunteers and staff, right up to Quispamsis Mayor Gary Clark.

"The employees from the town were amazing," said Roberge.

"The mayor was there shovelling, delivering food, filling trucks with sandbags, and on Thursday night when I told him I needed more bags delivered to a house, he said, 'I'll come,' and he took the town's truck, filled it with other employees and personally drove it and emptied it on location."

Roberge said there was a similarly enthusiastic response from her child's hockey team and from Samuel-de-Champlain School in Saint John when she posted that she needed help.

"A teacher … said she would try to gather some students and come and help fill sandbags. She and other people from the school gathered over 80 students and they came by bus from Samuel de Champlain to the qplex on Thursday morning."

"I was pretty impressed. Other schools have done the same."

Gardner Losier said she was impressed by the hospitality of people whose properties were threatened.

They're in a dire predicament, but still make a point of welcoming the volunteers and offering them refreshments, she said.

She was also struck by their reluctance to accept help, for fear of taking resources away from someone in greater need.

Both Roberge and Gardner Losier first got involved in flood volunteering at a friend's home last year.

Then they went next door to a neighbour who needed help, and it eventually extended to more homes along the river.

This year, when they heard about a sandbag station opening on April 22, they made arrangements to meet family and friends there to lend a hand.

They're now waiting to see if the water keeps falling and to find out details of the cleanup plan.

"All those 6,200 sandbags that have been placed around the houses … will need to be removed," Roberge said.

"And also all the debris that's been floating on the river will need to be cleaned. It's like Phase 2 that's coming."

Roberge said they want to be part of the "sandbag-ripping party," or whatever is needed.

"If we can provide arms, we will go. If they need our truck because I know debris will need to be lugged to different dump stations."

"I have one teen and a tween and I want them to see this is the right thing to do. If someone needs help, you go help because one day you might be in that situation."