Intact Insurance and BrokerLink donate $125,000 to help Fort McMurray
July 30, 2020
The donation will support local charities helping residents recover from spring floods, as well as the pandemic and resulting economic hardships.
In May, nearly 13,000 people were evacuated from their homes due to flooding in Fort McMurray, Alberta. The community was already coping with an economic downturn related to falling oil prices and the COVID-19 pandemic, all while still recovering from the 2016 wildfires.
To help Fort McMurray be more resilient during these challenging times, Intact Insurance and BrokerLink, through Intact Financial Corporation, have donated $100,000 to the Wood Buffalo Community Foundation Rapid Response Fund.
“We’re here to help people and communities be resilient in bad times. We were there from the outset to help our customers with their claims and we have helped more than 115 additional customers in the flood zone with a one-time payment to support their recovery efforts,” says Luisa Currie, Senior Vice President West, Intact Insurance.
“Our community donations are another way we’re helping the community rebuild by helping local charities address the urgent needs created by the flooding, as well as the pandemic and associated economic hardships.”
The Wood Buffalo Community Foundation is reviewing and approving applications from charities on a weekly basis to ensure the funding gets to those in need as quickly as possible.
An additional $25,000 donation was made to the NorthLife Fellowship Baptist Church Soup Kitchen. The community’s only soup kitchen was damaged in the floods and the donation will help them rent a food truck so they can continue to feed people in need while they rebuild.
How we’re helping in the long-term
Natural disasters, such as floods, are becoming more frequent and severe because of climate change. Our purpose is to help people prosper in good times and be resilient in bad times, which is why we work with the Intact Centre on Climate Adaptation and other charitable organizations focused on protecting Canadians from the impacts of climate change.