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LETTER: Stranded travellers give thanks to Skawahlook and Hope residents

‘We can’t wait to return and show our support back to you’
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We were caught behind the Highway 7 slide on Sunday night. After spending the first night sleeping in our truck, we were welcomed in by the Skawahlook First Nation. They provided clean bathrooms, hot tea, snacks, and dinner to many of us travellers. They were so gracious and kind!

On Monday night, the road opened to Hope. We were fortunate to spend the next two nights in the home of the most wonderful couple. They fed us, gave us comfy beds, warm showers, and moral support in a stressful situation. They even arranged for the boys to spend a few hours playing in the school gym!

The whole town of Hope worked so hard to feed and shelter the 1,200 plus travellers stranded there, offering free food, free movies at the theatre, kids activities, access to doctors, and so much more. Many of the citizens had flooded basements, flooded yards, and were being evacuated from their own homes, but they seemed to put their own angst aside to care for all of us.

To our lovely hosts, and all the citizens of Hope - from the tireless fire fighters, the cookie bakers, coffee shop servers, grocery store clerks, pizza guys, the emergency workers at the school and the church, and all of those who welcomed us strangers into their own homes - we offer our gratitude and thanks, from the bottom of our hearts. We can’t wait to return and show our support back to you. Stay safe.

Brenda Koop



Jessica Peters

About the Author: Jessica Peters

I began my career in 1999, covering communities across the Fraser Valley ever since.
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