SASKATOON — Fraulin Faith McGratten, growing up in a flood-prone area in the Philippines, knows the feeling of losing everything whenever tragedy strikes. She recalled her uncle and other strangers rallying to help them after her family was affected by a major flood in the municipality of Orani, Bataan province, Philippines.
That’s why the local business owner decided to start raising funds to help the victims of the Geary Crescent fire last week, which burned down four homes and damaged other properties, leaving several individuals homeless and without their belongings. The Saskatoon Fire Department has not yet released the results of its investigation into the cause and origin of the fire, with damage expected to reach millions of dollars.
“We were living with our grandmother at that time. We lost everything — important documents and photos. The only clothes we had were the ones that we were wearing. My dad managed to save one thing, my baby photo, and that’s it. We survived through the help of my uncle and the kindness of strangers,” McGratten, who was about 10 years old when that happened, told SaskToday.
That is why the dessert and pastry shop owner started raising funds through her bakery and a GoFundMe page to help the victims of the devastating fire start over. Her GoFundMe page is among several fundraising efforts started by individuals, including one by another business owner for their employees and another for a supervisor.
“I still remember when we lost everything; we had nothing left. I know the feeling, and I understand their pain. My uncle, who was there to help us, taught me to pay it forward. We experienced losing everything, and that is what I’m doing. It is the right thing to do, helping someone in need after a tragedy,” said McGratten, who owns Sweet For My Sweets.
Aside from setting up the GoFundMe page, she also put up a donation box in her store for anyone who wants to contribute any amount and marked selected items for donation, with a portion of the sales going to the victims as they get their lives back to normal. McGratten said one of the victims is a family that lost their dog in the fire.
Rene Sandrino, meanwhile, is helping his co-worker at eHealth Saskatchewan via a GoFundMe campaign. Sandrino said the colleague was at the office when the fire was destroying their house. He said his supervisor learned of the fire after receiving an alert showing smoke on their door camera, and later confirmed that their house was burning when he called 911 dispatch.
“I told him to go check their house, because I noticed that the feeling of shock at the thought of losing their home and everything they own was slowly creeping in. Slowly, their lives are returning to normal. They are now looking for a temporary home. Our office started the fundraiser, including those who are in Regina, and then we decided to begin a GoFundMe page,” said Sandrino.
Restaurateur Kapil Jaggi organized a third fundraiser for staff at Da Indian Curry House in Saskatoon. Four of the restaurant’s staff live in one of the four houses that burned down, where the only things they saved were the clothes they were wearing as they scrambled to save their lives, since the fire, with its origin still unknown, quickly spread to the structure.
“Our company is renting the house for our employees. Four of them live there, and they lost everything — important documents like their diplomas and other personal items. Yes, they are material things and can be replaced. Still, the value of those items, like jewellery they bought or were given by their parents, is priceless,” said Jaggi, who operates seven restaurants in the province.
Jaggi, who also expressed his dismay at racist comments online, said the good thing was no one got hurt or, worse, became a casualty of one of the city’s devastating fires. However, he added, the fire almost cost the lives of two of their employees, which is why, aside from temporary housing and collecting donations from employees of their restaurants, they provided counselling for their four workers who were victims of the fire.
