Fundraisers have been launched for victims of the White Rock Lake wildfire after it raged through Monte Lake Thursday and Friday.
More than a dozen GoFundMe accounts have been set up for Monte Lake families who lost everything, collecting more than $100,000 in a matter of days.
Nearly $70,000 has been raised for The Farm, organized by Matt Hunter, a professional mountain biker based in Kamloops and friend of owners and operators of the iconic property, Ron Penney and Krys Green
“Ron and Krys are OK, but they lost absolutely everything,” Hunter wrote in the campaign kickstarted Aug. 6. “They had created an amazing paradise and a lot of unforgettable memories for so many people.”
The devastating loss to the bike community has already been featured in articles on Pink Bike and Cycling Magazine.
“We just want to thank everybody who has reached out to us,” wrote Penney and Green in a post to the Landmarktrailworks Instagram account. “This is the second-worst outcome possible and although devastating, we are alive. This bike community of ours is all that we have left and we love you all to no end.”
Two fundraisers have been started for area resident Jackie Cooke who lost her home and several animals to the wildfire, collecting more than $10,000 combined.
Cooke was the star of a Cannes Film Festival selection documentary called Jackieland in 2016.
“Jackie Cooke is one of the most caring and rock-solid people I have ever met,” wrote organizer Feetus Bankus. “Earlier this week, she kicked down a burning gate to save some of her animals from perishing as her property, Jackieland, succumbed to the wildfire.”
A new director’s cut of the film was released on Vimeo by director Darcy Henessey Turrenne for $5. All the proceeds will go to Cookie and Turrenne said she and her husband would “double-match” the funds raised.
A GoFundMe campaign on behalf of area resident Rob Bouchard, his wife and two young children, has already raised more than $38,000 of its $75,000 goal.
Bouchard, a small business owner who lost his home and work equipment in the fire, has returned to Monte Lake to help in firefighting efforts alongside other residents who either returned or never left when the evacuation order was issued, according to the organizer Kyle Gryte.
While the Thompson-Nicola Regional District is aware of some structure loss, the exact extent of that has still yet to become clear said communications manager Michelle Nordstrom on Aug. 9.
She said the district expects to have a better sense of the total loss soon.
To learn more about the GoFundMe campaigns launched on behalf of those affected by the White Rock Lake wildfire, visit GoFundMe.com and search Monte Lake or White Rock Lake fire.
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