Uniting for Jasper: Sandbox Activates Emergency Response Program

In 2022, Sandbox Mutual Insurance emerged as the new face of Saskatchewan Mutual Insurance, and as part of our new brand, came along a new Giving Back policy. At Sandbox, we believe in Giving Back to the communities we do business in: Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba. So, we crafted four ways we could do it:

Care for Our Community

An ongoing initiative where Sandbox donates to non-profit organizations all year long for a variety of different causes and important dates. GivingTuesday, National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, Indigenous Peoples Day, and Pride Month, are a few that Care for Our Community has been a proud supporter of most recently.

Employee Volunteer Program

Each year, every employee at Sandbox receives two paid days to volunteer for a charity of their choice during company time.

Communities At Play

This is where Sandbox awards $25,000 to playground projects across Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba. In 2024, we selected five recipients and created a Ready, Set, Refer program for our broker network, awarding a grand total of $126,000 to playground organizations across the prairies.

Emergency Response Program

The Emergency Response Program has fortunately never needed to be used since being declared a Giving Back principle… until now. The raging wildfires being experienced in the prairie provinces have soared to new heights and lows. On Wednesday, July 24th, 2024, a forest fire entered the town of Jasper, Alberta. The forest fire moved quickly and with rage. Mike Ellis, Alberta Public Safety Minister reported that in less than 30 minutes, the wildfire moved 5 kilometres with a height of 100 meters. This fire happened from merging with a fire north of Jasper and another located near Miette Hot Springs. This collision is now being known as the Jasper Wildfire Complex. 

On the evening of July 22nd, Jasper, Jasper National Park, and surrounding communities were ordered to fill their cars, evacuate, and seek shelter in communities as far as 4-6 hours away, some driving all through the night. Evacuees had less than 5 hours to flee the town from 10 pm to 3 am. Most evacuees found refuge as close as Valemount and Kamloops, while others were instructed to take the long way around to get to Calgary and Edmonton.

As of July 29th, close to one-third of Jasper’s town had been destroyed by the fires and is still being labelled as an “out of control” fire. It has burned over 79,000 acres of land thus far. With firefighters and specialists arriving from other Canadian provinces, as well as Mexico, South Africa, Australia, and New Zealand, the fire was not able to progress any further in the town itself. This has easily become one of the most devastating and expensive wildfire disasters in Canada’s history, so we knew we had to do something about it, and we want to act now when people need it the most.

Jasper is home to our brokers, policyholders who have property, commercial, or farm insurance policies with us, and an area we have supported over the years through industry and charitable events. At Sandbox, we did not hesitate to open our Emergency Response Program to support the town and citizens of Jasper with a $5,000 donation to the Jasper Community Team Society. 

The Jasper Community Team Society rallies volunteers and gathers donations to give back to their community members, facilities, and the Municipality of Jasper for anything they might need. They provide community outreach services and funds for health and well-being, children and youth, mental health crisis, and even a Santa’s Anonymous Fund.

What are they doing for the wildfires? This non-profit organization has established a Jasper Fire Relief Fund, where 100% of all proceeds go directly to providing relief for emergency crews and personnel, giving essential items and resources to evacuees, and rebuilding the community once it is safe to do so. The best part is that this volunteer-based group will be allocating the donations to wherever needs it most, and a single donation goes a long way in that means. They are ready to adapt where their donations go as Jasper restructures and repairs what has been lost. 

MAKE A CLAIM

If you have been impacted by the forest fires in Alberta and are a policyholder with us, we want to help you with your claim as best as we can. Here’s how you can make a claim with us:

• Online using any device with our Claims Portal
• Giving us a call, Monday to Friday, at 800.637.3067
• For emergency after-hours claims, we have local adjusters available to assist you. Just simply select your province, and it will share adjusters closest to your region.

And remember—if you have any questions about your claim as it’s being processed, please reach out to [email protected]. We are here to help, support you, and be there for you when you need us the most.