Red Deer restaurants needed for evacuee voucher program

The City of Red Deer is looking for restaurants to participate in a voucher program for evacuees who’ve arrived here from Yellowknife and area, following a wildfire that’s displaced around 20,000 people.

A reception centre was set up at Red Deer’s G.H. Dawe Centre on Aug. 17, with an expectation of up to 1,000 evacuees.

The City says about 300 have been welcomed thus far, with the reception centre providing assistance with lodging, meals, medical and pet care support.

“The reception centre’s Emergency Support Services (ESS) Team are seeking additional restaurants to participate in the food voucher program,” the City says. “Evacuees are provided food vouchers to be used at participating restaurants, which businesses then submit to recover their costs. Voucher values are $9.20 for breakfast, $11.60 for lunch and $20.75 for dinner, per person.”