Volunteers pack hundreds of Christmas hampers for Lytton, B.C., residents
You could call it organized chaos.
A church in Langley, B.C., temporarily turned its sanctuary into a warehouse stacked with more than 22,000 kilograms of food.
“It was full and it was moving and had forklifts driving through,” said Pastor Paul Olson of SouthRidge Fellowship Church.
It was all part of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers this week to try and make Christmas a little brighter for the people of Lytton and the surrounding area, who were hard hit by last year’s catastrophic wildfire.
Volunteers spent hours packing 550 hampers with everything from cookies to cereal to soup.
“That was really important to me to show that we can all really come together to help out because that’s what we’re called to do,” said volunteer Penny Werdal, a Grade 10 student at Langley Christian High School.
With church donations, the food was purchased, much of it at cost, through a local FreshCo store.
After the hampers were finished, they were loaded into a semi-truck and driven to the Lytton area.
“They have no grocery store, no supplies, they have nothing. Everything has to keep being brought in and that’s when we realized they need extra help,” Olson said.
Most of the Village of Lytton was burned to the ground in June of 2021 along with dozens of homes on the Lytton First Nation. Then another wildfire in July of 2022 burned at least six homes on First Nations land.
Olson saw Lytton’s losses firsthand after travelling to the area earlier this year when his church was involved in another donation effort.
“I think the part that struck me the most was the total devastation,” he said.
In the village, cleanup continues from the 2021 fire. Rebuilding hasn’t even begun.
RCMP continue to investigate the cause of the fire.
Olson said his church stepped in to provide hampers after being asked for help from a charitable group from the Lytton area.
“It was just a wonderful opportunity for us to express God’s love,” Olson said.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
BREAKING Honda to get up to $5B in govt help for EV battery, assembly plants
Honda is set to build an electric vehicle battery plant next to its Alliston, Ont., assembly plant, which it is retooling to produce fully electric vehicles, all part of a $15-billion project that is expected to include up to $5 billion in public money.
BREAKING New York appeals court overturns Harvey Weinstein's 2020 rape conviction from landmark #MeToo trial
New York’s highest court on Thursday overturned Harvey Weinstein’s 2020 rape conviction, finding the judge at the landmark #MeToo trial prejudiced the ex-movie mogul with improper rulings, including a decision to let women testify about allegations that weren’t part of the case.
Residents of northern Alberta First Nation told to shelter in place
Residents of John D'Or Prairie, a community on the Little Red River Cree Nation in northern Alberta, were told to take shelter Thursday morning during a police operation.
Secret $70M Lotto Max winners break their silence
During a special winner celebration near their hometown, Doug and Enid shared the story of how they discovered they were holding a Lotto Max ticket worth $70 million and how they kept this huge secret for so long.
Remains from a mother-daughter cold case were found nearly 24 years later, after a deathbed confession from the suspect
A West Virginia father is getting some sense of closure after authorities found the remains of his young daughter and her mother following a deathbed confession from the man believed to have fatally shot them nearly two decades ago.
Monthly earnings rise, payroll employment falls: jobs report
The number of vacant jobs in Canada increased in February, while monthly payroll employment decreased in food services, manufacturing, and retail trade, among other sectors.
First in Canada procedure performed at London, Ont. hospital
A London man has become the first person in Canada to receive a robotic assisted surgery on his spine. Dave Myeh suffered from debilitating, chronic back pain that led to sciatica in his right now and extreme pain in his lower back.
Doctors say capital gains tax changes will jeopardize their retirement. Is that true?
The Canadian Medical Association asserts the Liberals' proposed changes to capital gains taxation will put doctors' retirement savings in jeopardy, but some financial experts insist incorporated professionals are not as doomed as they say they are.
Something in the water? Canadian family latest to spot elusive 'Loch Ness Monster'
For centuries, people have wondered what, if anything, might be lurking beneath the surface of Loch Ness in Scotland. When Canadian couple Parry Malm and Shannon Wiseman visited the Scottish highlands earlier this month with their two children, they didn’t expect to become part of the mystery.