Kristopher Mercer was just getting to sleep in his home in Edmonton last week when his phone started lighting up with messages.

91裸聊视频淚 went on Facebook and I looked and I started seeing about the fires that were happening and right away I knew,91裸聊视频� he says.

Mercer got to work mobilizing a network of organizations and volunteers who fall under the banner 91裸聊视频淭he Postmen91裸聊视频� in order to start shipping food and supplies towards the Cariboo.

The group started in 2016 in response to the Fort McMurray fires. Mercer, who hails originally from Fort McMurray, got a call from his brother saying people were on the highway needed fuel. Mercer made his way up, putting a message onto social media that he was on his way. By the end of the trip, he says, there was a convoy of people passing out donations to those stuck on the roads.

From there the group expanded, helping evacuees across Alberta.

When Mercer saw the need in B.C., he volunteered his and the group91裸聊视频檚 experience and network to aid wildfire victims throughout the province.

Leaving his three children with a volunteer nanny in Edmonton, Mercer made his way to Kamloops where he and other volunteers started gathering donations in a local91裸聊视频檚 backyard. Soon after, he says, they moved to the Salvation Army where they helped stock goods from there. When the Salvation Army no longer needed the Postmen91裸聊视频檚 help, they moved to a donated spot at the Sun Valley Container yard in east Kamloops and set up a distribution centre there.

The Interlakes Community Centre has been co-ordinating shipments all over the South Cariboo for those in need. Jil Freeman photo.

Daily shipments come into Kamloops from donation centres across B.C. and Alberta and Mercer directs them north up Highway 20 to a food bank set up at the Interlakes Community Centre, who recieve shipments from the Postmen and other groups. From there, local volunteers have been co-ordinating shipments to other food banks set up across the South Cariboo 91裸聊视频� Lone Butte, 70 Mile, and Forest Grove.

The Forest Grove Community Hall is now set up to push the food farther north, reaching areas mostly cut off by evacuation orders such as Lac la Hache, Horsefly and Likely.

Related:

The Postmen91裸聊视频檚 aim now is to pass the torch on to volunteers in British Columbia.

91裸聊视频淭he goal is to come in and advise with what we did and then they take that and they roll with it,91裸聊视频� he says. 91裸聊视频淪o B.C. is the one stepping up here. They91裸聊视频檙e the ones up there in the centres that have gotten this stuff out.91裸聊视频�

The motto of the Postmen, according to Mercer, is 91裸聊视频渟ervicing people by the people.91裸聊视频�

He91裸聊视频檚 been working closely with Bea Peter, who, although operating the shipments north from Kamloops, is normally based out of Quesnel.

When they heard about the evacuees coming south to Kamloops from Williams Lake, arriving at the Sandman Centre in the middle of the night to register for Emergency Social Services Mercer and Peter got to work.

The Postmen are organized via social media and send out shipments in whichever way they can. Tara Sprickerhoff photo.

They loaded up their truck with blankets, snacks and clothing and headed to the Sandman Centre where they unloaded for people to take what they need.

They91裸聊视频檝e also put out a call to Northern B.C. to send shipments of food and fire fighting supplies to Quesnel with the aim of bringing them into the Chilcotin, where ranchers and First Nations have remained despite evacuation orders to protect their communities.

Related:

All of the Postmen91裸聊视频檚 work is co-ordinated over social media.

When 91裸聊视频渟ocial media postmen91裸聊视频� hear about a need for supplies, they put a call out over a Facebook Messenger chat and through their .

91裸聊视频淚f I need a truck, I need volunteers, he goes on social media and he tells the crew online in our group chat. They take it and they plaster it all over social media,91裸聊视频� says Mercer.

91裸聊视频淚f it comes in, it comes in, but in the meantime, we have the donation centres of our own setup, so they91裸聊视频檙e out recruiting and they91裸聊视频檙e out talking to people and gathering donations. They get it and then they send it to us, so once we get it 91裸聊视频� we take that and we put it out to the places that need it.91裸聊视频�

In Kamloops, trucks get loaded with food and supplies and sent north as soon as possible.

91裸聊视频淧eople are hearing about this all across Canada and they just keep sending it and we take it in here and we load up trucks and we get it up to other places. There are people from all different groups, backgrounds, companies.91裸聊视频�

The Postmen joins other efforts to bring food into the Cariboo. There are shipments outside of the Postmen that are sending food and supplies directly to the Interlakes, and the 100 Mile House to food banks in the area.

Related:

Just today, July 19, the Interlakes Community Centre co-ordinated a non-Postmen shipment coming from Fort McMurray and other Alberta areas to be sent further north. Some of the supplies were repacked and picked up by Timber Mart owner Mike Anderson, who will be brining it to a drop off point in Williams Lake for it to get brought to residents in the surrounding areas and the Chilcotin.

On July 19, volunteers at the Interlakes Community Centre shipped some of their supplies to a drop off point in Williams Lake where it will get picked up in order to supply communities there and in the Chilcotin. Jil Freeman photo.

The Postmen organization also includes 91裸聊视频淐ity Postmen,91裸聊视频� and 91裸聊视频淧et Postmen.91裸聊视频�

At evacuee centres, City Postmen provide snacks and essential supplies to those waiting in line, with the aim of helping the lines move quicker or making it easier for those in them.

Pet Postmen have made deliveries of pet food around evacuation centres and to the areas they ship food to and are also set up behind fire lines, setting up trail cameras to catch animals left behind until their owners can be found.

When the Free Press spoke with Mercer and Peter, they were in the process of planning a new approach of getting shipments into the Chilcotin, figuring out the best way to get food past fire lines, who had permits, which roads were open, and which communities needed supplies. They had just put out the call to Northern B.C. for supplies.

Phone calls and Facebook messages were being answered by the minute with requests for food and aid, while Google maps containing the location of donation depots were checked and updated.

When a truck comes in, the group drops everything to load up supplies to get them back out the door where they are needed.

Mercer says it91裸聊视频檚 not about joining an organization to be a Postman. Rather, it91裸聊视频檚 about seeing a need and helping.

91裸聊视频淵ou don91裸聊视频檛 have to be here to be a Postman. You can be somebody that is going around and just delivering supplies to those that need it. If you are doing that, you are are a Postman.91裸聊视频�