Meg and Ian's 2017 Flood Clean-up
Donation protected
**THIS IS A SURPRISE - SHHH - don't tell them!**
As many of you know, Meg and Ian were evacuated from their Pointe-Fortune home May 7, 2017 due to the Quebec flooding this spring.
Volunteers helped lift furniture and appliances out in case, and the army sandbagged their backyard. Their entire street was mandatorily evacuated and the houses were barricaded for safety. They stayed with friends in town on higher ground, where their things were also stored.
Though their main floor was thankfully spared, the normally beautiful Ottawa River, as pictured in the photo, came over their retaining walls and flooded their backyard and entire basement to the rafters.
They regained access to the house in recent days, and finally moved back in May 24th and are now dealing with major cleanup. This includes a house full of boxes lifted out of the basement, a (thankfully mostly empty) basement that is covered in a film of brown mud (including the washer and dryer), a swamped well, a backyard that requires re-landscaping with rock and soil, a pool deck that requires re-stabilizing, a pool that is filled with sand and soil and sandbags that require moving to the street.
Though they are much better off than many folks who lost whole homes or even their neighbours on both sides who lost major portions of their backyards, it is still a daunting clean-up. The government's emergency funds will help off-set some costs, but not all, and most, like them have been left to handle their own clean-up.
Many of you have asked if there's anything you can do to help. I thought if we all pooled a little money together, we could surprise them with the funds to do several things: hire an industrial clean-up crew to scrub out the basement; hire a washer/dryer technician (if they're deemed not working, the gov. will pay for new ones); hire a landscape crew for a day to help at least set the stones back in place in the backyard.
You all know my parents, and know that they would stoically go about it themselves for weeks on end, but I thought you would all agree that they could use a helping hand.
No pressure, of course, to contribute or share. But if you're so inclined, contribute a little, and do feel free to pass this link around to those who you feel would also like to contribute to this gift for them.
I will stop the campaign in mid-June, when they will need to hire the help (there is still water in their basement, so real cleanup in that regard can't begin), so please try to donate before then if you can.
SIDE NOTE: I did a tester donation of $5 just to see how this whole thing works and my tips are:
1) KEEP IT CONFIDENTIAL - tick the box so that your name and donation amount remain confidential (so no one is feels pressured or shy by the amounts chosen - I was hoping we could publish our names and not the amounts, but it seems that it is either all disclosed or nothing at all - the TICK for this is when you initially put your name in - I missed it entirely when I did my desired amount so now it's public, sigh... oh well!);
2) DON'T SHARE ON FACEBOOK - please don't share on Facebook, as it will prompt you to do following your payment, just click "skip" at the bottom of all those options... Mum and Dad are not public people and have not chosen to publish anything on social media about this incident...
Thanks in advance.
Love, Catherine
As many of you know, Meg and Ian were evacuated from their Pointe-Fortune home May 7, 2017 due to the Quebec flooding this spring.
Volunteers helped lift furniture and appliances out in case, and the army sandbagged their backyard. Their entire street was mandatorily evacuated and the houses were barricaded for safety. They stayed with friends in town on higher ground, where their things were also stored.
Though their main floor was thankfully spared, the normally beautiful Ottawa River, as pictured in the photo, came over their retaining walls and flooded their backyard and entire basement to the rafters.
They regained access to the house in recent days, and finally moved back in May 24th and are now dealing with major cleanup. This includes a house full of boxes lifted out of the basement, a (thankfully mostly empty) basement that is covered in a film of brown mud (including the washer and dryer), a swamped well, a backyard that requires re-landscaping with rock and soil, a pool deck that requires re-stabilizing, a pool that is filled with sand and soil and sandbags that require moving to the street.
Though they are much better off than many folks who lost whole homes or even their neighbours on both sides who lost major portions of their backyards, it is still a daunting clean-up. The government's emergency funds will help off-set some costs, but not all, and most, like them have been left to handle their own clean-up.
Many of you have asked if there's anything you can do to help. I thought if we all pooled a little money together, we could surprise them with the funds to do several things: hire an industrial clean-up crew to scrub out the basement; hire a washer/dryer technician (if they're deemed not working, the gov. will pay for new ones); hire a landscape crew for a day to help at least set the stones back in place in the backyard.
You all know my parents, and know that they would stoically go about it themselves for weeks on end, but I thought you would all agree that they could use a helping hand.
No pressure, of course, to contribute or share. But if you're so inclined, contribute a little, and do feel free to pass this link around to those who you feel would also like to contribute to this gift for them.
I will stop the campaign in mid-June, when they will need to hire the help (there is still water in their basement, so real cleanup in that regard can't begin), so please try to donate before then if you can.
SIDE NOTE: I did a tester donation of $5 just to see how this whole thing works and my tips are:
1) KEEP IT CONFIDENTIAL - tick the box so that your name and donation amount remain confidential (so no one is feels pressured or shy by the amounts chosen - I was hoping we could publish our names and not the amounts, but it seems that it is either all disclosed or nothing at all - the TICK for this is when you initially put your name in - I missed it entirely when I did my desired amount so now it's public, sigh... oh well!);
2) DON'T SHARE ON FACEBOOK - please don't share on Facebook, as it will prompt you to do following your payment, just click "skip" at the bottom of all those options... Mum and Dad are not public people and have not chosen to publish anything on social media about this incident...
Thanks in advance.
Love, Catherine
Organizer and beneficiary
Catherine Sinclair
Organizer
Wakefield, QC
Mary Sinclair
Beneficiary
