Returning Jasper evacuees leaning on each other, neighbours in first days

The power of a home-cooked meal has been proven in Jasper, where one woman has spearheaded an initiative to feed hundreds of residents every night.

The power of a home-cooked meal has been proven in Jasper, where one woman has spearheaded an initiative to feed hundreds of residents every night.

Although Jasperites began to return to their town on Aug. 16, as of Wednesday, only one grocery store was open, no restaurants had reopened in a large-scale way, and many returning residents were dealing with refrigerators that had gone rancid over the weeks they were displaced.

On top of that, the Jasper Food Bank was one of the buildings that was destroyed when flames burned through the southwest part of town on July 24.

The Friday that the first Jasperites returned, Legion manager Sue Henderson made a pot of chilli to share with whoever needed, not knowing how many that would be.

"I just knew that I can make this for 30 people," she said. "Well, now I gotta make it for 300, you know?"

As more Jasperites returned, more turned up for supper – or a hug or conversation with friends.

"They can relate their own stories, you know? The good the bad – but they have somebody here to help them out," Henderson told CTV News Edmonton.