Evacuations at the Father Mercredi Community High School in Fort McMurray, Alberta.Greg Halinda/The Canadian Press
Kaci Anthony was looking forward to going to her prom in June, having worked hard to graduate before delivering her first child in just a couple of months. But her dreams were put on hold last week when she was told she had only 15 minutes to evacuate her home in Fort McMurray.
It just wasn't enough time to grab her prom dress.
"At first I didn't care all that much, but then I started thinking about it," she said. "I'm seven months pregnant and it took me months to find a dress that fits."
Ms. Anthony wasn't initially planning on graduating this year, but once she found out she was pregnant, she says she was driven to finish high school. Now she says she's unsure if she'll get to celebrate with her peers at all.
"I don't know if we're even going to get to have a ceremony," she said. "Every girl has that idea of what prom is going to be like. Now me and all my friends from the graduating class aren't going to get to do that. It seems like we're not getting the big celebration that we're supposed to."
After leaving fire-ravaged Fort McMurray to stay with friends in Olds, Alta., Ms. Anthony connected with the Facebook group "Fort McMurray Grad Donation." Within two days, she says about 15 women had offered up their dresses.
She thinks she's settled on one that's purple with a corset back. It looks just like the one she had to leave behind.
It was Tarin Clark, one of the administrators of the Facebook group, who initially helped Ms. Anthony find a new dress. The group is just one of many on Facebook that are doing their part to help Fort McMurray graduates.
Ms. Clark says she felt driven to do something as she witnessed the devastation from Lethbridge, Alta. She discovered the "Fort McMurray Grad Donation" Facebook group created by Veronica Ostermann, and has since helped organize donations as the group grows to more than 3,000 members.
Dozens of Fort McMurray prom teens have shown an interest in the dresses, she says.
The group is partnered with the Prom Project, which provides dresses to girls who may not be able to afford them. Since the wildfire, the project's founder, Angela Pauls, has collected hundreds of grad outfits specifically for Fort McMurray evacuees.
She says packages have arrived from as far away as Nova Scotia. "It really restores your faith in humanity."
Jeff Thompson, board chair of Fort McMurray Public School District, says it is too soon to say when a graduation ceremony will take place. Among the four high schools in Fort McMurray, he says there are well over 400 students in the graduating class.
"At this point, we don't even have a schedule for when we might return. As soon as we have that type of schedule, we will look at if we can do it in June, or if we have to move it to August or September."