Prince Albert Grand Council (PAGC) Urban Services housed evacuees from La Ronge in June and wanted to say ‘Thank You’ to Prince Albert.
On Tuesday afternoon at the Urban Services Centre there was a free barbecue to thank Prince Albert for their kindness during the evacuation.
Melissa Ahenakew, who came up with the event, said the City of Prince Albert was fantastic to evacuees.
“We just wanted to say thank you to the community of Prince Albert. Throughout the evacuations, they were amazing when it came to donating, coming in to help us and we just wanted to make take a second to make sure we recognise that,” she said.
Although most of the Urban Services evacuees arrived from La Ronge, Ahenakew said the entire community came out to support all evacuees, regardless of where they came from.
“The city was amazing when it came to meals, when it came to clothing, blankets, bedding, any way they could help, everybody was amazing,” she added.
La Ronge residents were hosted at Urban Services and PBCN was at the Prince Albert Exhibition, others were housed in hotels and with families during the evacuation.
She said being part of a community was why it was important to thank the city.
“I think that it is just being part of a community to recognize each other and being there for each other,” Ahenakew said.
Vincent Brittain, interim director of PAGC Urban Services, echoed Ahenakew sentiments on why Prince Albert needed to be thanked.
“It’s great to see that the community was stepping up and giving back to the people that actually needed the help during the evacuation,” he said.
Brittain said that Ahenakew was a great asset for orchestrating some of the major items during the evacuation and came up with the idea for the barbecue.
“Now we as a team, we’re stepping up and giving back and giving back to the community,” Brittain said,
Ahenakew said that during the evacuation they housed anywhere from 150 to 200 people overnight and fed anywhere between 250 and 350 per meal. Ahenakew said that not only the PAGC Urban Services team but everyone in Prince Albert put in a lot of work while evacuees were in the city.
“I would say that we’re saying thank you on behalf of the Grand Council on behalf of our executives and our Chiefs and the Community of La Ronge,” Ahenakew said.
michael.oleksyn@paherald.sk.ca
