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In the hot summer months, it is always a treat to enjoy the sun by a pool for refreshing dips in the water. As we welcome hot weather, remember to take some steps to ensure a safe environment poolside for all to enjoy. Make water safety mandatory in any pool adventure: learn to swim, secure your pool and always watch kids closely. Here are simple steps you can follow to secure your pool.

“Babies need diapers. People need houses,” says 8-year-old Kamloops resident Jenna Kansky. 
Jenna and her 7-year-old friend Isabella Sharp set-up a lemonade stand to raise funds to support the Canadian Red Cross BC Fires appeal.  

“We watched the fire come over the hill towards our house,” recalls Ira Sandy, a British Columbia wildfire evacuee. “You could feel the heat and warmth from the flames.”

On Monday, Sandy evacuated from his community of Sugar Cane in northern British Columbia due to the wildfires that have been sweeping fiercely across the province. He is now staying at an evacuation centre in Prince George.

Big or small, disasters impact the entire community. These are extremely stressful times, and children and youth can feel this stress just as much as the adults in their lives. Here are some ways that parents and caregivers can help during times of disaster and emergencies. 

It was a slow journey as people evacuated from Williams Lake on Saturday evening, with many driving all night to get to Kamloops. For some, the experience was almost overwhelming. After they arrive, the Red Cross is there to help register them and provide assistance. 

Bashiir sits upright on his cot inside a crowded cholera ward. “It is the first time I am sitting like this in a long time,” says Bashiir. “With my illness, I could not sit, I could not stand. For three days and three nights, I was vomiting. My entire body was aching. Those were black days.”
 Bashiir is at a treatment centre in eastern Africa for acute watery diarrhea/cholera set up by the Canadian Red Cross, with support from the Government of Canada.

Canadian Red Cross volunteer David Wickingstad, who is currently fielding calls at the Kamloops HELP office, decided to help out because he knows what it’s like to be an evacuee. His community of 108 Mile in the Cariboo Region of BC has been under an evacuation order since Friday, July 7th due to the Gustafsen wildfire.

Une amie m’a raconté une histoire qui fait frémir tous les parents. Elle jouait avec son neveu en bas âge au chalet lorsqu’il a accidentellement lancé une balle sur un nid de guêpes. Celles-ci n’ont pas perdu de temps pour se lancer à l’attaque de tous les humains aux alentours.