Slowly but surely, book by book and wooden block by wooden block, staff at St. Therese Child Care are scrubbing away the soot and grime from a fire last Friday.
A fire that forced the closure of the daycare.
"We can save one of our classrooms," said St. Therese Executive Director Cathy Somerset. "So we've kept the staff, and they're the ones who are coming in to do all of the work and all the cleaning, and we really believe it’s part of our rebuilding process.”
However, despite all their hard work, the kids who normally attend the daycare, can't. So other city daycares are stepping up, and offering temporary spaces to the displaced children. The Munroe Early Childhood Education Centre was able to take seven from St. Therese.
"We just want to see the kids get the best possible care," said Gilles Gareau. "We don't think the kids should suffer just because there's a fire."
However, it seems more than just St. Therese parents are trying to take advantage of the offers of help.
Somerset said she's received reports of other parents calling daycares, and pretending to be affected by the fire.
With thousands of children on the online waitlist, the Manitoba Child Care Association said the deception isn't surprising.
"It's not ethical, it's not what we would advocate for," said Chair April Kalyniuk.
