Image
Image Caption
Kingsway Mall in Edmonton has received the 2017 Albert Sussman International Community Support Award for the work it undertook during the Fort McMurray fire evacuation last summer.
As a result, the partner charity for Kingsway Mall, the Edmonton Emergency Relief Services Society, will receive a donation of $10, 000 US from the ICSC (International Council of Shopping Centres) Foundation.
The Edmonton Emergency Relief Services Society and the Kingsway Mall, owned and operated by Oxford Properties, partnered in May 2016 to help the displaced Fort McMurray residents. It was the largest fire evacuation in Alberta’s history, with 88,000 people leaving the Wood Buffalo region.
The management team of Kingsway Mall spearheaded a movement to convert a vacant anchor space into the only distribution centre in Edmonton where the society could disperse basic necessities to wildfire evacuees.
Kingsway Mall also distributed tote bags to evacuees which included water, gift cards and discount coupons. Children received bags filled with puzzles, games and juice boxes.
Organizing the support of retailers, Kingsway Mall offered special discounts to evacuees ranging from 10 per cent to 75 per cent. Packages for new moms were also delivered to the nearby hospital as a Mother’s Day gift for mom’s who gave birth within the time of evacuation.
Since the opening of the distribution center, 58,000 Fort McMurray wildfire evacuees visited the center to receive assistance.
In the first full week of operations 31,000 evacuees were aided. More than 7,000 volunteers donated 29,000 hours to keep the centre open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily. The centre also distributed 80 semi-trailer truckloads of donations from across Canada to those affected.