How Can We Help?

As our community begins the healing process after the Carr Fire, people have asked how they can help.  Although the emergency need for things like bottled water and breathing masks has passed, the needs of our community will grow and evolve throughout the coming months.  So I wanted to toss out some suggestions.  There are countless organizations that will accept donations for this relief and rebuilding effort.  I'm going to share some ideas but this is by no means an exhaustive list.  This is just a starting point.  I know it often feels more gratifying to donate to a specific project or person instead of a general disaster relief fund.  So, if you're looking for a more personal place to focus your donation dollars, here are some suggestions from a local girl. (If you have other suggestions for local donations, please feel free to leave them in the comments!)

1. NVCSS Adopt-a-Carr-Family
Northern Valley Catholic Social Services runs an adopt-a-family program at Christmas for needy families.  Now they have graciously taken on the administration of an Adopt-a-Carr Family program, allowing donors to directly meet the needs of families affected by the fire.  Donated items can be dropped off at their office September 5-8, 2018. (If you are an out-of-town friend and want to adopt a family, I can accept shipments of donated items and deliver them for you.  An Amazon or Target gift registry can make this easy to accomplish from anywhere around the US. Message me for details!)

2. Haven Humane Society
Haven Humane is our local animal shelter.  They took in HUNDREDS of evacuated, lost or injured animals, and also ended up evacuating the entire facility temporarily during the Carr Fire.  You can track the whole journey on their Facebook page.  They incurred significant expense caring for our local fur babies during this emergency.  I know they would appreciate some love. 

3. Shasta Union Elementary School
Shasta Elementary was the only school in the Redding area that was displaced by the Carr Fire.  Students began the school year at a temporary location while their school is repaired.  The main building still stands, but the playground and outbuildings were heavily damaged. Over half of the student body was displaced at least temporarily during the Carr Fire, and 35 students (about 28% of their student body) lost their homes.  The school is accepting donations to rebuild, and gift cards to assist their families.  Gift cards and monetary donations can be sent to Shasta Elementary School 5885 E. Bonnyview Road Redding, CA 96001.  Please make checks payable to Shasta Elementary School and write “Shasta Giving Tree” on the memo line.

4.  Friends of Whiskeytown
Here in Redding, we are lucky enough to live just a few miles from Whiskeytown National Recreation Area.  If you look at the Carr Fire map, you will see that the fire swept around the entire perimeter of the lake.  Along with the many trees that burned, much of the infrastructure around the Oak Bottom Marina was also destroyed, as well as a long list of other park amenities.  The Friends of Whiskeytown is a nonprofit organization dedicated to raising private funds to support the park.  Over the years The Friends have purchased kayaks for ranger-led tours, paid for new trail bridges, and much more.  They help fill the gaps when federal funding falls short.  The recovery process at Whiskeytown will be long and expensive.  A gift to the Friends of Whiskeytown is truly a gift to the community at large, as the recovery of this crown jewel is an important step in healing for all of us that enjoy the trails, beaches, and educational programs offered at Whiskeytown. 

5.  GoFundMe
There are over 800 Carr Fire-related GoFundMe pages.  (Disclaimer...some have not proven to be legit) If you're looking for a story to inspire your giving, look no further.  Here are the GoFundMe stories that I know personally, or that I know to be true. There's the guy with the incredible Christmas display who dresses up like Santa and passes out cookies and hot cocoa every year.  There's the family of five from our church that lost everything.  There's the young firefighter and his family that were burned out of their rental. There's a family with young children that was off sailing the Virgin Islands and came home to nothing. There's the guy that makes amazing homemade sausages that we buy at the farmer's market.  There's the local swim team trying to keep their heads above water after being forced to cancel two of their major fundraising events. And there's the Redding firefighter that lost his life and left behind a wife and two children. 


6. Shasta Regional Community Foundation
SRCF has proven themselves to be a trusted community partner in raising, managing, and distributing funds to benefit our community.  They were uniquely poised to set up a disaster relief fund almost overnight, and I trust them to be thoughtful in how they disburse funds to aid the short term and long term recovery efforts. Yes, it's somewhat impersonal to donate to some giant relief fund.  But rest assured, these dollars will be well spent. They will go toward needs big and small, needs that might not be glamorous, and needs that we haven't yet identified. Truly, this recovery will take more than cases of bottled water and emergency blankets.  This fund will support the full evolution of our community in recovery. 

As I said, there are lots of ways to help because this recovery is so big.  There is debris to clear, homes to rebuild, dead trees to remove, trails to repair, bridges to fix, and water lines to patch. Beyond that, there are neighbors to care for, prayers to be said and a shell-shocked community to be stitched back together. We are now past the sensational "Fire Tornado" headlines, but this story is not yet over.  The chapter of our rising has just begun.  

Carr Fire Recap: Guessing Games, Gratitude, and Gusto

I live in a town of 90, 000 people, so when over 1,000 homes burn in a wildfire, it's not a guessing game wondering if you know someone that lost their home.  It's a waiting game to see how many you know.  Or maybe a macabre horror film would be a better description.

So far our count is up to five.  I'm sure there are more that we just haven't heard about yet.

And that's just the homes that are completely destroyed.

There are numerous friends that lost fences, trees and landscaping, one friend that lost her boat docked at Oak Bottom marina, and one friend that lost the guest cottage behind her home. To many to count are going home to freezers full of rotten food, smoke damage, and scarred neighborhoods that bear witness to the furious path of the fire tornado. Some friends still wait for the evacuation order to be lifted, bunked up with extended family. All of us will eventually have to venture out into our yards to hose down the toxic layer of ash that has accumulated on pool decks, patio furniture, and backyard swing sets.

All of us will remember the evening of July 26, 2018 when this "wild" fire became "our" fire.  It got personal.  It burned through the forest surrounding our beloved Whiskeytown Lake and headed for Redding city limits with a speed and appetite that fouled every effort to contain it. The concept of "defensible space", so familiar to those that live in the semi-rural outskirts of town, quickly became a parlor joke in the face of this burning monster. Bare ground, tile roofs, properly trimmed trees and irrigated landscaping designed to stop the spread of fire were mere speed bumps, as the fire raced forward at a ferocious pace never seen before.

Although the flames were miles away from us, we packed up the valuables and photo albums as a precautionary measure.  Trying to be calm as we loaded the car did not fool our children who immediately became worried and wanted to leave as quickly as possible.

In the aftermath of the fire, there were days of constant texting and emails to check in with friends, confirm their safety, and guess about who and what had been lost. The airport that had buzzed with fire plane activity for days, suddenly became eerily quiet as the smoke settled in and it became unsafe to attack the fire from the air. My son became teary-eyed as I described to him what it meant for his friends that had lost their homes.

"So, their toys burned?"

Yes.

"What about their shoes?"

Yes.

"Their bed?"

Yes.  Everything.  It all burned.

We visited the Red Cross shelter to donate some non-perishable snacks to those that had been displaced.  Our local community college, normally a beautiful, green campus buzzing with students of all ages, was covered with a blanket of dense, gray smoke and became a temporary holding place for dazed fire refugees that quietly milled about.

In the grocery store later the next week, it felt unnatural to be out in the world doing something as "normal" as buying food for my family. Friends hugged, and it didn't seem odd to have this display of affection in the middle of the produce section.  Aisles were crowded as acquaintances stopped to visit and every hushed conversation I overheard was someone's fire story. Strangers looked at each other silently wondering who had escaped unharmed and who had lost everything.

Signs of gratitude sprouted up around town. First near fire stations, and burned neighborhoods.  And then everywhere.  Freeway overpasses, fenceposts, trees, tractor trailers, chalked car windows, digital billboards and theater marquees all announced our collective gratitude for those that fought so hard to save our city.

And our circle of gratitude expands as the cycle of this fire wears on.  We thank PG&E for working around the clock to restore power as quickly as possible.  Thank you Bureau of Land Management for sending out crews to identify and tag hazardous trees.  Thank you to the National Guard for standing watch outside our evacuated neighborhoods to deter looting.  Thank you CalTrans for long hours repairing guardrails and checking the structural integrity of our bridges. Thank you churches that opened your doors to provide indoor play space when the outdoor air quality was unhealthy.  Thank you FEMA for setting up camp and bringing in national-level relief and support. Thank you restaurants that feed evacuees for free, Costco for allowing nonmembers to shop for necessities, Realtors for coming together to organize rental listings, and Haven Humane for taking in hundreds of lost and evacuated animals, and on and on and on.

It was a spark that started this fire, and from there the flames grew.  It was the firefighters that first fought back, and from there our response will grow. As our community moves out of survival mode, we will all have a part to play.  Cleaners, builders, bakers, teachers, counselors, trash collectors and everyone in-between.  When your cue comes, I invite you to take on your role with gusto. There is no guessing game to see if someone might need your help.  Only a waiting game to see how many.

My kids sorting coins from their piggy bank to share with friends that lost everything.