$1.00 + HST Vol. 27 | No. 1 Thursday, January 6, 2011
Michael Wigle photo
An aerial shot of the Valley taken September 22, 2010 - this is perhaps the last picture before September's massive flood - certainly the defining moment of 2010 for many Bella Coola residents
‘Operation Santa’ delivers some Christmas cheer to flood affected families SUBMITTED BY COLEEN FRASER A joint effort by numerous agencies resulted in an early Christmas for many victims of last fall’s tremendous flood. At the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure office in Williams Lake, Leanna Illinicki and Loreen Russell organized a project that substituted their usual staff gift exchange in favour of buying gifts for floodaffected families.
In addition to the Ministry of Transportation’s generosity, other BCGEU employees from various provincial ministries including the Corrections Branch, Client Services Branch, Ministry of Environment, Ministry of Forests and Range, Ministry of Agriculture and Lands, and the Integrated Land Management Bureau took part in the project, as did their union. Interior Roads, Dawson Construction, Triton Environmental and Binnie
Associates donated $4,000 to the Flood Relief Bank account to be used for firewood, furnace fuel and hay. Many people purchased specific items that families had indicated their children would appreciate including bikes, helmets, skates, board games and clothing. Leanna loaded two pick-up trucks with the gifts and delivered them to Bella Coola where volunteers used the Mormon Church Hall to organize and distribute them. Employees
at the Williams Lake hospital also sent gifts to the valley via Beeline Courier. Earlier that week Michel Bazille (CEO of the Bella Coola Hospital), and some of the hospital staff delivered gift blankets that had been donated to flood affected households, which had been donated by Vancouver Coastal Health employees in Vancouver. The Bella Coola Flood Restoration Committee was also able to organize two volunteer work crews that assisted
local householders in from mid October through November and December. The first group to arrive was a six-person crew from the Mennonite Disaster Service. Hosed at the Community Church in Hagensborg these men helped fourteen householders with cleanup and reconstruction during the nine days that they were in the valley. In mid-November volunSEE MANY ON PAGE 3