A local man was surprised to find boxes of new clothes and donations that were slated for Slave Lake in the city landfill.
Paul Nielson owns a private garbage collection company and he couldn't believe what he was seeing when he was at the city's Spyhill Landfill on Monday.
He discovered boxes of clothes, toys, and other items among the heaps of refuse.
The boxes were clearly marked for the people of the fire ravaged Town of Slave Lake.
Nielsen says there were dozens of sealed and neatly packed boxes in the trash.
Some of the items were brand new and still had the tags on them.
Nielsen says it was obvious someone had gone to a lot of work to try to help people who had lost everything.
"I opened the box and it was like a knife through my heart. I've seen lots of horror and this just shattered me. The box was full of children's clothing. Someone had gone to a store, bought children's clothing, and had the foresight to throw something in for the mother too," said Nielsen.
Melissa Gunning and several other women started an organization they called "More Than Just Love" to collect donations for Slave Lake families who lost everything.
Gunning says when they found out that Slave Lake officials were being overwhelmed with donations they tried several local charities to see if they wanted the goods, but there were no takers.
The group then asked a local waste and junk collection company to take the goods and find needy charities and when that failed, they took the goods to the landfill.
"We worked very long hours. We shut down my company just so we could do this for a week. I hired an assistant just for this project. It was very busy," said Gunning.
A spokesperson for the Canadian Red Cross says that this is one of the reasons why it asks for cash instead donations like clothing.
