Ways for RMTs to Help Fort McMurray Fire Evacuees

RMT Volunteers Needed!! A special thanks to the volunteers from the MTAA, RMTA and NHPC who will be working together next week to bring relief to the Fort McMurray evacuees.  Evacuees are not required to sign up in advance so we want to be prepared in case there are a large number of evacuees that come for treatment.   MORE VOLUNTEERS ARE NEEDED.  WHO are we supporting : Fort McMurray and area evacuees WHERE: Bellevue Community League Hall, 7308 112 Avenue, Edmonton, AB  WHEN: Tuesday - Thursday, May 17-19, 2016 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.   If you can free up some time, even a couple of hours, to provide your services, please contact Dylan Bagot at dbagot@nhpcanada.org  or phone him at 1-888-771-7701 extension 259.  As a reminder, this event is open and available to ALL therapists across the province!

A letter from the RMTA, the MTAA and NHPC:

In response to the tragedy of the Fort McMurray wild fires, the Remedial Therapists Association (RMTA), the Massage Therapy Association of Alberta (MTAA) and the Natural Health Practitioners of Canada (NHPC) are working together to create opportunities for our members to support the evacuees. Many of you have already made donations and offered accommodations for your fellow members. We suggest additional ways to provide support, both in terms of dollars and services.    

1. Designate a period of time (be it a day or a week) in your practice in which you will donate a portion of the income from treatments directly to the Red Cross.  You can click this link and download a poster to print out and display in your clinic to let your patients know what you are undertaking on behalf of the evacuees.  Let us know if you have made a donation to the Red Cross, so we can recognize you.  Attached is a poster that can be used to inform clients of these contributions and that the provincial and federal governments will match these donations.

2. The NHPC has rented space in the Bellevue Community League Hall in Edmonton (7308 112 Ave NW, Edmonton, AB), so that members of any one of the three associations can provide free treatments to evacuees from Tuesday May 17th to Thursday May 19th. To book a date/time as either a volunteer service provider or on-site coordinator, please contact Dylan Bagot at the NHPC (1-888-711-7701, ext 259 or dbagot@nhpcanada.org). This opportunity is available to ALL practitioners, regardless of association affiliation.

3. If you have available accommodations for any of the MTAA member evacuees or possibly even the ability to provide them with a treatment room on a temporary basis, please contact Christy Pritchard at the MTAA (1-403-340-1913 or christy@mtaalberta.com).

4. If you are an MTAA member who has been displaced as a result of the evacuations, please contact Christy Pritchard at the MTAA and let us know what we can do to assist you during this time.

All three associations are receiving inquiries and offering assistance to individual requests. Each and every one of these contributions will be appreciated not only by the evacuees, but by over 100 members who have been displaced and impacted in other ways. In advance, we thank you for your compassion! 

Christy Pritchard, CAE, Executive Director, MTAA; Pamela Bernard, Executive Director, RMTA;  Kelly Sloan, C.E.O., NHPC