Abbotsford groups raise over $3M to support those impacted by floods

A grassroots relief fund started by a trio of Abbotsford-based institutions has raised over $3 million dollars for the community as it continues to recover from last month’s devastating floods.

The Abbotsford Community Foundation, the Abbotsford Chamber of Commerce and the University of the Fraser Valley first teamed up on Nov. 17 to form what they’ve called the Abbotsford Disaster Relief Fund.

“Their lives have been changed in a very dramatic way and it’s just really challenging and difficult for our community right now,” Wendy Neufeld of the Abbotsford Community Foundation told CTV News Friday.

The fund is meant to provide immediate support to families and businesses impacted by the flooding in the Sumas Prairie and also aims to provide support to other local charities involved in disaster relief efforts.

Since its inception, Neufeld said donations have been pouring in to the fund.

“We were processing some days up to a 1,000 donations in one day,” Neufeld explained.

The money was coming in from all across Canada, with some donations even being sent from other countries.

“It was quite astonishing how the campaign that we started to raise money for our community just went viral,” Neufeld said.

This past week the group even received $350,000 in donations in a single day, helping get them to their current total of over $3 million.

“When you think of the magnitude of the losses and the billions of dollars, the $3 million that we’ve raised is not going to have a huge effect on the infrastructure rebuild, but what we are hoping to do is to provide some immediate relief to charities and families,” Neufeld said.

Neufeld said there is no deadline to donate nor is there a deadline for those impacted to apply for funding as the focus is to offer help for the long haul.