Help The Gillinghams Recover from Wildfire
As many of you are aware, my family's most beloved homestead (Northern Song Farm) has suffered some pretty severe damage from the Sparks Lake wildfire. Papa purchased this land in 1972 and for the last 50 years it has been a labour of love for our entire family, and many of our friends. Over the years we have suffered from drought, flooding, destruction of the Northern Boreal Forest from the pine bark beetle infestation, white fly infestations and the list goes on; living in a remote place off grid has so many challenges that come along with maintaining the beauty of the place. My folks have been true stewards of the land for their whole lives and it is apparent when you visit this place, with the abundant flora and fauna; and the forest health within our own borders. Papa, Mama, Sherman and Penny had to leave the on the 30th of June and are still away from home. We have had the opportunity to go home a number of times to check on things; miraculously, the house and buildings have survived, even though the flames came within about 100' of the house - fortunately the day of that event, we were able to be there ourselves to help save our home.
There is no indication yet of when we might be able to go home permanently, but there have been grumblings that it could possibly be another few weeks yet. Although we won't know the full amount of the damage until we are able to remain and take a few days to walk the 160 acre perimeter, we know a significant amount of our forest has been burned as shown in the photo above. To add insult to injury, when the pine bark beetle was at the height of it's scourge across Canada about 20-25 years ago, my folks were one of the only families who chose to stand in solidarity with the land and not log their property. Instead, as a family, we spent thousands of hours cutting, peeling and burning or processing infected trees and then re-planting 75,000 trees. The events of the last month have taken all of that away from us.
As their daughter and number one supporter, I am starting this fundraiser on behalf of my parents to try to give them a bit of cushion and respite from this life changing event. My parents have worked harder than any two people I've ever known in my life, they have saved as much as they can, they have excellent insurance; and yet somehow, they are already being denied any compensation because the structures are intact. There is basically no coverage for loss of timber, rebuilding the road, rebuilding the 100 acres of fence that we have spent years constructing, cost to install some sort of filtration system for the creek water that has sustained us for our whole lives and now is too contaminated with ash and smoke to be potable. I am hopeful we may be able to raise enough funds to help with the following items: rental of large excavator to help with clearing burned trees and fence line in preparation for rebuild, food for crew of 12-24 people to come for 5 days and assist with clean-up, gravel and equipment to mend the road that has been ruined by movement of heavy equipment and vehicles, fencing materials, etc.
If you have the extra resources to be able to donate, I know my whole family will be eternally grateful and there is hope that we may again gather at one of the best places in the world and celebrate with each of you again. In the coming months we will also be looking for volunteers who may want to come assist with the cleanup efforts with boots on the ground; please reach out to me directly if this is something you'd like to be involved with. From the bottom of my heart, thanks to each and every one of you in advance, for even taking the time to read our story. With big love from all the Gillingham & Schock families.
If the government and/or insurance decides to step in and provide any assistance, I will reach out to each donor and determine how to allocate any remaining funds, whether to other families who have also suffered losses, or another charity.
