Disaster relief group raises $75K for Dunrobin tornado victims

A coalition of five community groups has raised$75,565 to help tornado victims in Dunrobin, delivering emergency cash to families in need.

West Carleton Disaster Relief issuedone-time payments of $500 each to 122 householdsaffected by the storm. Themoney was delivered over a two-and-a-half week period, and is intended to help tornado victimsmeet basic needs without getting caught up in red tape.

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The group says it stepped in to help when the Red Cross failed tocome through.

"The Red Cross was not releasingfunds quickly enough to those affected ... so we did," said Angela Bernhardt, one of the group's co-ordinators.

The volunteer group's original goal was to help the community rebuild, but its memberssoon realized many families needed immediatefinancial support in the wake of the devastating Sept. 21storm. Bernhardt said tornado victims faced long delays, piles of paperwork and mixed messages about who was eligible for Red Cross assistance, causing them even more stress.

"We made sure that our families got at least something," Bernhardt said. "They knew that we were there and we were listening."

The remainder of the money raised so farhas been put toward hiringsecurity for the affected area, and to help defray unexpected costs such as reconnecting utilities.

West Carleton Disaster Relief is made up of volunteers representingfive community associations fromDunrobin,Kinburn, Constance Bay and Buckham's Bay, Huntley and Corkery.

Also on Wednesday, the Ottawa Food Bank said 9,489 people used its services immediately after the tornadoes, a 33 per cent increase over the same period last year. A total of19,679 hampers were delivered to the affected areas, more than twice the 8,302 hampers delivered over the same period last year.