Some Shuswap residents had a little something extra to be thankful for this Thanksgiving weekend.

Silver Creek resident Christy Gaudin came up with an idea when she wasn鈥檛 able to have a Thanksgiving dinner for herself due to hectic events in her life and realized many who had lost their homes to the Bush Creek East wildfire were likely facing the same struggle.

Gaudin watched the fire grow devastatingly large from across the lake in August and has since been trying to organize a fundraiser that prioritizes what residents might really need, she said, but with little success.

After a drive out to the Scotch Creek/Lee Creek fire hall that burned down and speaking with the owners of a torched trailer park lot behind the hall, Gaudin said her heart dropped when she heard firsthand accounts of the widespread devastation.

鈥淥nly five people in that whole trailer park had insurance,鈥� she said. 鈥淎nd that hit me pretty damn hard.鈥�

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The idea for the dinner came from a gut feeling she couldn鈥檛 ignore when thinking of having a Thanksgiving dinner and wondering if others were too.

鈥淚t started with a call to Don Tingey at the downtown Askew鈥檚鈥� said Gaudin. 鈥淜nowing that some of our neighbours, family and friends have lost everything that live right across the lake from us鈥� I shared my dream to have a turkey dinner available for them鈥� And he said, 鈥楾ell me what you need鈥�.鈥�

Altogether, Gaudin collected groceries with a donated $100 gift card from Tingey, turkeys, pumpkin pies and pumpkins from Save On Foods, another turkey from the Blind Bay Village Grocer, and vegetables for the dinner from Brad Demille and Demille鈥檚 Farm Market manager Jacob, who organized the pickup in Brad鈥檚 absence. The meal was prepped and cooked in the Scotch Creek Hub kitchen amid the restaurant鈥檚 usual operations, a feat which Guadin thanked the staff for immensely.

A total of 70 dinners were prepared and 30 community members were invited to the Scotch Creek Hub to enjoy the meal.

Pumpkins were used for a crafting project Gaudin came up with after seeing a similar idea at her dentist鈥檚 office, which involved writing what each person is grateful for on a pumpkin. Gaudin鈥檚 neighbour Terri Jackson donated 10 pumpkins from her farm and Gaudin bought the rest, and the project was well-received, she said.

鈥淪ome of the pumpkins, I didn鈥檛 post [to Facebook],鈥� she said. 鈥淭here were, and are, some pretty strong feelings.鈥�

She was talking about feelings of grief, loss and anger stemming from the North Shuswap鈥檚 wildfire experience. Many residents had told Angela Lagore, who runs the the Scotch Creek Hub, that they weren鈥檛 ready to talk to or face people they didn鈥檛 know so soon after that trauma. While thankful for the dinner, many opted to take an offered take-out container and sit by their property or overlook the lake and reflect alone, said Gaudin.

Lagore said the employees and volunteers at the Hub were grateful to be given the opportunity to help.

鈥淲e appreciate all the efforts in donated supplies to help make this possible,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t was a successful evening and the feedback was positive, families were grateful.鈥�

鈥淚t鈥檚 just being a human being. When people are displaced, in my opinion, how I was brought up, you invite them to dinner,鈥� said Gaudin.

She admits it was a bit of a selfish idea as well, as focusing on organizing the dinner helped her shift her focus from all the negativity she sees, even just on Shuswap social media pages.

鈥淚 like to put a little piece of good stuff in there. Sometimes people just need a smile.鈥�

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