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CFL office, clubs and players team up to help Fort McMurray in wake of fires

The raging fires in Fort McMurray that have already destroyed over 1,600 structures are generating a response from the CFL. The league played two games in Fort McMurray last year, and it's now joining the aid efforts in a big way. Here are the details from their release:

All nine CFL teams and the League Office have united to support Fort McMurray and the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo who so graciously hosted the league on two occasions last season.

A combined $50,000 donation will be made to the Red Cross to support relief efforts. A special thank you to the Edmonton Eskimos who have helped lead this initiative.

“Our thoughts are with the people of Fort McMurray,” said Jeffrey L. Orridge, Commissioner of the Canadian Football League. “They have been our gracious hosts. They are our friends. And most importantly, they are our fellow Canadians. All of our teams, and I know all of our fans, wish them safe passage and in time a full recovery from this crisis.”

In addition to this donation, the CFL will contribute its proceeds from May 12, 2016, CFL/adidas sales on CFLShop.ca to the Red Cross. That is the day the CFL is launching its new adidas collection for the upcoming season.

To make a personal donation to the Red Cross, supporting Fort McMurray fire relief efforts, please click here.

This is a great move from the CFL, with the community so in need of help. There are plenty of other organizations stepping forward too, including the St. Louis Blues and Fort McMurray native Scottie Upshall, the Edmonton Oilers, and even the town of Lac-Mégantic, Quebec, which received its own nationwide donations  and support after a 2013 rail disaster, but it's smart for the league to do this given their connection to Fort McMurray.

Last year's "Northern Kickoff" preseason game between the Edmonton Eskimos and the Saskatchewan Roughriders took place there, as did a subsequent regular-season game between the Eskimos and the Toronto Argonauts. Some CFL players have already been donating and encouraging donations and other help themselves before this, too. Here are some of those tweets:

It's neat to see the league's teams and players unite on this front, and what's perhaps really impressive is the decision to donate the CFL's proceeds from May 12 CFLshop.ca sales; sales should be high that day given the new uniform and lifestyle gear unveilings, and it's nice of the league to put that money towards a good cause. Fort McMurray needs all the help it can get, and hopefully the CFL's involvement will be significantly beneficial for that community.