When Alisha and Kyle Miller bid farewell to the stranded family they hosted for several days at their Agassiz home, they didn’t realize it would be a short absence.
Within days the two families, who had become fast friends, were reunited when the stranded family showed up on the Millers’ doorstep, stranded again after more highway closures prevented their return to the Vernon area.
Alisha and Kyle Miller had initially taken in Allen and Jammeelyn Albert and their two children after the Edgemont family was trapped by mudslides on Hwy. 7 while headed to Mexico for a week-long vacation. The B.C. Catholic told their story in the Nov. 22 issue.
The Millers, parishioners at St. Anthony of Padua in Agassiz, brought the Alberts to their home and with their pastor and other parishioners made sure they had warm clothing, a queen-sized bed, and even a birthday party for one of the Alberts’ children.
The two families parted company a few days later, but on Saturday, Allen and three of his children and their dog were back in the Lower Mainland returning a family friend who had been babysitting for them.
Once again, highway closures left the Alberts stranded. “He ended up back in my house Saturday, Sunday, and part of Monday,” said Alisha in a chat message. “At least now he knows he has a warm place to stay LOL.”
Allen, now known as “Uncle Allen” to the Millers, was so moved by the generosity his family experienced in Agassiz that he wrote about it in a Facebook post. Here is an excerpt:
We slept in our truck Sunday night and ran our vehicle maybe 4-5 times for 10 minutes each time to keep warm. We only had our one change of warm clothes, and the rest of our luggage was beach wear.
3 pm on Monday, Search and Rescue started air lifting all of us trapped motorists from Highway 7 and brought us to Agassiz rec centre, where we were met by the nicest volunteers who made sure we all got into dry clothes, given coffee and snacks. We warmed up, met lots of people and within an hour or so of arriving at the rec center we were asked if we wanted to go with a family from Agassiz that opened their doors up to the people that were stuck in the slides and floods. We were definitely hesitant to accept help.
Alisha Miller showed up at the rec center, picked us up and brought us to the church in Agassiz for more warm clothes. And then to her home where her and her husband Kyle Miller welcomed us like we were part of their family. We all hit it off and it felt as though we are staying at a family members home. Kyle and Alisha went out of their way to make sure we have everything we need; their kids shared their bedroom and toys, and the Miller family has made sure we are as comfortable as possible while we have been trapped in Agassiz. On top of all of that they have worked so hard to make sure my daughter and I still were able to celebrate our birthdays! The support from the community of Agassiz is staggering.
As some students at St. John Brebeuf Secondary struggled with hybrid learning in the midst of continued highway closures, the school community was still able to respond generously to the needs of flooding victims.
Last week the school launched a flood relief effort through its student council and its life and justice team, asking students to pay $5 to take part in a non-uniform day and raise money for displaced migrant workers and other flood relief agencies.
The students raised about $2,400 for flood relief, in addition to food, clothing, and toiletries donated.
Persistent rain and flooding left Hwy. 1 closed between Chilliwack and Abbotsford for much of the week. Students who were unable to get to school participated in hybrid classes online.
