WestJet brings holiday cheer to Fort McMurray

After the devastation of the wildfires, an Alberta airline has stepped in to spread some seasonal cheer in Fort McMurray

Every yearWestJet creates a "Christmas Miracle"for its customers and documents the surprise in an annual video.

This year, the airline flew north to give Fort McMurrayresidents some much-needed holiday cheer.

In November, the company hosted a Snowflake Soiree for everyone in the city, doling outgifts, a live performance byCanadian music superstarJohnny Reidand a cameo from Santa Claus. Just over 800Fort McMurray residents showed up fortheevent, and everyone who attendedwas given a free airline ticket.

'Santa came out of pretty much nowhere'

WestJetis known for its Christmas videos that tend to tug on the heartstrings, and the fifth annual video, released Monday,is no different.

The video of the Fort McMurraycelebrationstarts like this:

This story begins before Christmas was a thought

The story is happy, the beginning is not

"Santa came out of pretty much nowhere and said, 'Ho ho ho.Merry Christmas' " said Rhys Popejoy."And there was these big balloons with baskets and they tipped them down, and a bunch of gifts came flying out."

Among the Snowflake Soiree guests were seven families who received special gifts from WestJet workers, who heard the families' stories and wanted to help by giving them their own irreplaceable items.

'It just touches me so much'

Rhys was among those special guests.

He lost most of his beloved Harry Potter collection in the wildfires. His mother, during the evacuation panic, remembered to grab his Harry Pottercloak from their housebefore they fled the city back in May. Their home is still standing but everything inside was destroyed by smoke and ash.

During the party, Rhys was givensome rare collectoritems from theJ.K. Rowling series, including a golden snitch and Quidditch goggles.

It all camefrom the personal collection of Jessica Fitzgerald, a WestJetworker.

"It's hard for me to eventalk about it," said Rhys' grandmother, Lynne Clarke. "Because it just touches me so much that she would do that from her own collection from when she was a child. It was amazing."

According to WestJet, the night featured 500 stockings and 300 pounds of candy. A total of348 parachutes were dropped, and 48 WestJet volunteers helped put it all together.

"It's been a bit of a struggle this Christmas because it's so different, but that party just lifted our spirits," said Clarke."It was so amazing."