(Above) Volunteers from the Kamloops Alliance Church assist The Salvation Army team with set up outside the Kamloops reception centre (Photo: Cpt Kelly Fifield) 

November 2021 began as a regular Christmas season for The Salvation Army in Kamloops, B.C. They had just launched their annual kettle campaign and started receiving Christmas hamper applications when Captains Cory and Kelly Fifield, corps officers, received the call to respondto nearby floods.

An hour away in Merritt, B.C., and surrounding areas, heavy flooding placed the entire city under evacuation order, displacing residents from their homes without notice and with no idea when they might return. The Salvation Army partnered in ministry with other local churches to serve food and drinks at the Kamloops reception centre, and later, bring Christmas hampers to evacuees.

Ready On Site

On the morning of November 15, Captains Fifield received a phone call from the city asking if The Salvation Army could step in to support a reception centre being set up in a local sports arena in Kamloops.

“We happened to be at Costco when we received the call, so we loaded a cart with water and snacks before heading to the corps to gather a team,” says Captain Kelly. 

By the early afternoon, the community response unit (CRU) was fully stocked and they arrived at the reception centre, setting up outside as buses of evacuees continued to arrive. “We started by serving snacks from the truck window, but quickly realized that people did not want to come over to the CRU as that would mean getting out of line,” explains Captain Kelly. “We shifted gears, loaded some baskets and started walking the line with snacks and hot chocolate.”

As the situation continued to unfold, the need became greater. Those who had left their homes without warning and brought little with them required more substantial meals, as well as coats and blankets.

“The Lord provided. Thankfully, we had just run our annual Coats for Folks campaign and we had received twice as many coats as the previous year,” says Captain Kelly. The Kamloops Salvation Army had more than 600 coats from the campaign and were in the process of distributing them to community agencies when the flood hit. “We still had a few hundred coats at the corps that were washed and ready to be handed out.”

The first night, the team brought over bins of coats, hats, mittens, scarves and blankets, and the following day, they set up a multi-purpose space at the corps with racks of coats and tables of winter gear for men, women and children. Evacuees were informed that they could go to the corps a few blocks away from the reception centre and pick up whatever they needed for their families.

The Salvation Army was on site at the Kamloops reception centre every day it was open from November 15 to December 15.

A Helping Hand

“We heard from many evacuees that they were grateful for our presence. We were there to meet with people at their worst moment and to listen to stories of what they had gone through,” says Captain Kelly. The Salvation Army was the first point of contact at the reception centre and a constant for each person who continued to come back and check in while they were away from their own homes. “Providing a listening ear and a hot cup of coffee helped to settle anxieties for a moment and allow them a chance to breathe.”

One woman shared with Captain Kelly that she did not know what to do or where to go, but she knew that The Salvation Army would be there with a smile to greet her and ask how she was doing. She said that it allowed her a small piece of stability when she felt like she was living in chaos.

“On the second day, we met a preschool teacher who ended up gathering in a hotel meeting room with a few of her students. We put together a box of supplies such as paper, crayons, markers and stickers,” says Captain Kelly. “Despite being evacuated herself, all she wanted was to provide some normalcy for the children.”

Coming Together

As the holiday season went on and Christmas drew closer, the team decided to help provide Christmas hampers to evacuees. “Many families had no idea what they were going to go home to. We wanted to take away the stress of Christmas by supporting them in a tangible way,” says Captain Kelly.

They connected with the Merritt Food Bank to support them in creating Christmas hampers for 200 families from Merritt, in addition to the 300 families already accessing Christmas assistance from The Salvation Army in Kamloops. Though the floods did not directly impact the local services in Kamloops, staff were stretched thin and many resources were redirected to the relief effort.

Community agencies and local churches, including the Kamloops Alliance Church, Kamloops Presbyterian Church and Kamloops Full Gospel, rallied to fund and prepare hampers for more than 100 families the weekend before Christmas. The churches contributed funds, storage space and volunteers to pack the toys just in time for Christmas.

“God provided once again by bringing community members and local churches to our side to help us,” says Captain Kelly.