Latest news with #SiftonSchool
CTV News
24-05-2025
- General
- CTV News
Free garage sale for families affected by apartment fire
Sifton School in northeast Edmonton held a free garage sale for residents affected by the Wyndham Crossing Apartments fire earlier in May. CTV News Edmonton's Nav Sangha reports.
CTV News
24-05-2025
- General
- CTV News
‘Gratitude makes it all worthwhile': Edmonton school holds free garage sale for apartment fire evacuees
Evacuees of a north Edmonton apartment fire got a helping hand from their community on Friday. Sifton School organized a free garage sale for the 33 students and more than 100 families they say were affected by a blaze at Wyndham Crossing apartments near 50 Street and 134 Avenue on May 6. Officials determined the fire was started by a person who was smoking while using home oxygen in a second-floor suite of the building. The fire displaced 252 people and almost all of the units were expected to have been damaged by fire, smoke or water from the firefighting effort. The fire happened close to Sifton School, so staff started collecting donations and put out a call for more last week. 'Our gym is absolutely full. We have our conference room full. We haven't been able to sort everything, so we're kind of replenishing the tables as they deplete,' Sifton School principal Pam Depeel told CTV News Edmonton outside the school. She estimates they received about $4,000 in cash and gift card donations. As well as clothes, food, diapers, toys and other household items from a dozen schools, neighbouring businesses, community leagues, and other organizations all wanting to help. 'We originally shared it out pretty widely thinking, 'Hopefully we'll have enough to help our evacuees,'' Depeel said. 'Then when donations started pouring in, we knew that we had something bigger on our hands.' 'So it's so nice to help the whole community.' Fire evacuee leaves with donated items Fire evacuee Firiyo Adbdillahi leaves Sifton School with donated items collected at a free garage sale on May 23, 2025. (Nav Sangha/CTV News Edmonton) Firiyo Abdillahi is a lunch supervisor at Sifton School and one of the people who lost their home in the apartment fire. She said she only stepped away for about five minutes to buy groceries, when she was told her home was on fire. 'When I drove (back) to my home, I saw a lot of smoke on the road and the road was closed,' Abdillahi recalled, before going into the gym to look for items for her family. 'It was super, super, super scary and super horrible.' Abdillahi was one of the dozens of people to go to the garage sale in the first few hours of opening its doors to evacuees. She was in search of clothes for her kids and left with a few bags of needed items. 'I'm smiling, you know,' she said, grateful for the help. 'Last time, I was crying.' 'I'm so happy today.' Fire evacuee collects donations Makombe Patrick loads donated items he collected from a free garage sale held by Sifton School on May 23, 2025. (Nav Sangha/CTV News Edmonton) Makombe Patrick has two kids who go to Sifton School. He moved from Kenya five months ago, and saw his first home in Canada damaged by fire. 'It was very hard on my heart,' he said, adding he was stressed when he first saw the destruction and was rescued by emergency crews. 'Fire (took) everything.' Patrick loaded several bags and boxes of items from the garage sale into his car, expressing his gratitude and hope to rebuild. 'It's very appreciated. It's very valuable. It's many things which can help us to start (our) life again in this country,' he added. Depeel said many of the volunteers are 'exhausted' from working through weekends and during evening hours to organize the event for the community. 'The evacuees are very grateful. They've been coming in, and they just keep saying thank you,' she said. 'Some of them are apologizing and we just want them to know that we support them and that we're here with them every step of the way.' 'The gratitude makes it all worthwhile.' The school is giving families directly affected by the fire a chance to take what they need on Friday. The garage sale will then be opened to other community members in need on Saturday. With files from CTV News Edmonton's Nav Sangha
CTV News
23-05-2025
- General
- CTV News
‘Gratitude makes it all worthwhile': Edmonton school holds free garage sale for apartment fire evacuees
Evacuees of a north Edmonton apartment fire got a helping hand from their community on Friday. Sifton School organized a free garage sale for the 33 students and more than 100 families they say were affected by a blaze at Wyndham Crossing apartments near 50 Street and 134 Avenue on May 6. Officials determined the fire was started by a person who was smoking while using home oxygen in a second-floor suite of the building. The fire displaced 252 people and almost all of the units were expected to have been damaged by fire, smoke or water from the firefighting effort. The fire happened close to Sifton School, so staff started collecting donations and put out a call for more last week. 'Our gym is absolutely full. We have our conference room full. We haven't been able to sort everything, so we're kind of replenishing the tables as they deplete,' Sifton School principal Pam Depeel told CTV News Edmonton outside the school. She estimates they received about $4,000 in cash and gift card donations. As well as clothes, food, diapers, toys and other household items from a dozen schools, neighbouring businesses, community leagues, and other organizations all wanting to help. 'We originally shared it out pretty widely thinking, 'Hopefully we'll have enough to help our evacuees,'' Depeel said. 'Then when donations started pouring in, we knew that we had something bigger on our hands.' 'So it's so nice to help the whole community.' Fire evacuee leaves with donated items Fire evacuee Firiyo Adbdillahi leaves Sifton School with donated items collected at a free garage sale on May 23, 2025. (Nav Sangha/CTV News Edmonton) Firiyo Abdillahi is a lunch supervisor at Sifton School and one of the people who lost their home in the apartment fire. She said she only stepped away for about five minutes to buy groceries, when she was told her home was on fire. 'When I drove (back) to my home, I saw a lot of smoke on the road and the road was closed,' Abdillahi recalled, before going into the gym to look for items for her family. 'It was super, super, super scary and super horrible.' Abdillahi was one of the dozens of people to go to the garage sale in the first few hours of opening its doors to evacuees. She was in search of clothes for her kids and left with a few bags of needed items. 'I'm smiling, you know,' she said, grateful for the help. 'Last time, I was crying.' 'I'm so happy today.' Fire evacuee collects donations Makombe Patrick loads donated items he collected from a free garage sale held by Sifton School on May 23, 2025. (Nav Sangha/CTV News Edmonton) Makombe Patrick has two kids who go to Sifton School. He moved from Kenya five months ago, and saw his first home in Canada damaged by fire. 'It was very hard on my heart,' he said, adding he was stressed when he first saw the destruction and was rescued by emergency crews. 'Fire (took) everything.' Patrick loaded several bags and boxes of items from the garage sale into his car, expressing his gratitude and hope to rebuild. 'It's very appreciated. It's very valuable. It's many things which can help us to start (our) life again in this country,' he added. Depeel said many of the volunteers are 'exhausted' from working through weekends and during evening hours to organize the event for the community. 'The evacuees are very grateful. They've been coming in, and they just keep saying thank you,' she said. 'Some of them are apologizing and we just want them to know that we support them and that we're here with them every step of the way.' 'The gratitude makes it all worthwhile.' The school is giving families directly affected by the fire a chance to take what they need on Friday. The garage sale will then be opened to other community members in need on Saturday. With files from CTV News Edmonton's Nav Sangha
CTV News
13-05-2025
- General
- CTV News
‘We need to be the village': School organizes free garage sale for families displaced by significant apartment fire
Clothing donations collected by Sifton School for a free garage sale for residents displaced by an apartment fire in north Edmonton. (Nav Sangha/CTV News Edmonton) Sifton School is organizing a free garage sale for the 33 students and more than 100 families they say were affected by a north Edmonton apartment fire last week. On May 6, a fire started after a person was smoking while using home oxygen in a second-floor suite in the Wyndham Crossing apartments near 50 Street and 134 Avenue. Officials say 252 people were displaced and almost all the units were expected to have been damaged by fire, smoke or water from the firefighting effort. 'Our Sifton community suffered a tragic apartment fire (last) week that has had a great effect on our community,' said Sifton School principal Pam Depeel in an interview on Tuesday. 'The fire was very close to the school and it happened really quickly.' 'Some of our students say that their homes were burning and it was a very emotional day.' Depeel said the school has received a 'huge outpouring of support,' including donations collected by neighbouring businesses and other schools. CTV News Edmonton spoke with Depeel and assistant principal Jade Larenas while staff were sorting through clothes, food, toys and other donated items in the school gym. 'We've got a wide range of things and the stuff keeps pouring in daily,' Larenas said. 'We're just really happy that the communities and the whole city have really come together to support our families.' Sifton School staff sorting through donations Sifton School staff sort through donations collected for a free garage sale for residents displaced by an apartment fire in their community. (Nav Sangha/CTV News Edmonton) A free garage sale for fire evacuees will be held at the school on May 23. After giving those directly affected by the fire a chance to take what they need, the school will open the garage sale to any community member that is in need on May 24. 'This is an amazing community. It has just been so heart warming and so overwhelming, the amount of donations,' Depeel said. 'We have so much diversity and that is definitely our school's biggest strength,' she added. 'We need to give back. We need to be the village that helps people raise their children.' The school is still accepting donations for personal care items, diapers and gift cards that can be used for families to purchase food or other items damaged in the fire. With files from CTV News Edmonton's Nav Sangha
CTV News
13-05-2025
- General
- CTV News
‘We need to be the village': School organizes free garage sale for families displaced by significant apartment fire
Clothing donations collected by Sifton School for a free garage sale for residents displaced by an apartment fire in north Edmonton. (Nav Sangha/CTV News Edmonton) Sifton School is organizing a free garage sale for the 33 students and more than 100 families they say were affected by a north Edmonton apartment fire last week. On May 6, a fire started after a person was smoking while using home oxygen in a second-floor suite in the Wyndham Crossing apartments near 50 Street and 134 Avenue. Officials say 252 people were displaced and almost all the units were expected to have been damaged by fire, smoke or water from the firefighting effort. 'Our Sifton community suffered a tragic apartment fire (last) week that has had a great effect on our community,' said Sifton School principal Pam Depeel in an interview on Tuesday. 'The fire was very close to the school and it happened really quickly.' 'Some of our students say that their homes were burning and it was a very emotional day.' Depeel said the school has received a 'huge outpouring of support,' including donations collected by neighbouring businesses and other schools. CTV News Edmonton spoke with Depeel and assistant principal Jade Larenas while staff were sorting through clothes, food, toys and other donated items in the school gym. 'We've got a wide range of things and the stuff keeps pouring in daily,' Larenas said. 'We're just really happy that the communities and the whole city have really come together to support our families.' Sifton School staff sorting through donations Sifton School staff sort through donations collected for a free garage sale for residents displaced by an apartment fire in their community. (Nav Sangha/CTV News Edmonton) A free garage sale for fire evacuees will be held at the school on May 23. After giving those directly affected by the fire a chance to take what they need, the school will open the garage sale to any community member that is in need on May 24. 'This is an amazing community. It has just been so heart warming and so overwhelming, the amount of donations,' Depeel said. 'We have so much diversity and that is definitely our school's biggest strength,' she added. 'We need to give back. We need to be the village that helps people raise their children.' The school is still accepting donations for personal care items, diapers and gift cards that can be used for families to purchase food or other items damaged in the fire. With files from CTV News Edmonton's Nav Sangha
