November 29, 2016
Coats and other items headed to Kasabonika Lake First Nation
PICKERING — What started as a plea to help 350 children stay warm in an isolated northern community turned into a collection of more than 500 coats and a storage unit full of donated items.
“It’s been absolutely overwhelming, the generosity of people,” said Pickering resident Jacqueline Smart, one of the residents who got involved.
The initiative started when Pickering resident Johanne Blake got word from a friend, who taught at Chief Simeon McKay Education Centre in Kasabonika Lake First Nation, that the students from junior kindergarten to Grade 12 were in need of warm coats for the harsh winter.
Last year, Blake collected socks for the community. When she called someone in Kasabonika Lake this year to ask what they needed, she was surprised by the response.
“They said ‘why?’” she said. “Because they haven’t been given that help. They’re very humble people.”
The reservation, located 450 kilometres northeast of Sioux Lookout, faces temperatures between minus 20 Celsius and minus 40 C in the winter.