Fort St. John unites for clothing drive to aid Fort Nelson evacuees

FORT ST. JOHN, B.C. — Members of the Fort St. John community have donated clothes to help support Fort Nelson evacuees, and they’re being distributed at a local business ahead of the weekend.

A clothing drive for evacuees has been organized by SJA Promo, a promotional product supplier located in downtown Fort St. John.

According to LJ Lawson, SJA’s marketing and business development coordinator, the idea for the clothing drive came from another employee at the company.

“One of our staff had a friend who had been evacuated, and they were just talking about how hard it was for them to find stuff at this point in town, and we’re like, ‘Hey, how can we help?’” Lawson explained.

“We couldn’t really help with what we have, so we’re like, ‘How can we kind of engage the community to help?’ That’s a lot of what we like to do, it’s sort of using our powers for good.”

Lawson says her team began collecting donations last Friday and will distribute them on Thursday, May 23rd, from 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., with help from volunteers from the Bert Bowes Community Goodness Group and the North Peace Gymnastics Association.

“Evacuees just need to pop by, and we’ll give them a bag. They can fill the bag with clothes for every member of their family from what we’ve had donated from the public,” Lawson said.

She also says any leftover clothing after Thursday will be available from 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Friday and that any other remaining items will be donated to the Salvation Army.

Evacuees interested in taking advantage of the clothing drive can visit SJA Promo at 10623 100th Avenue in Fort St. John.