To Our Community:

california wildfire relief
To Our Community:

by Abeer Sweis
November 15, 2018
This is a devastating week for our friends and neighbors to the north. Our hearts break thinking about the fear and the panic and the loss they have been experiencing. Many of you have told us that you would like to help. Thankfully there are organizations that have mobilized swiftly to provide shelter, food, clothing, and pet care to those displaced and in need. Sending money to these organizations is the most efficient way of helping them do what they do best. We thought we’d take a moment to list a few of those we support.

  1. The California Community Foundation’s Wildfire Relief Fund supports intermediate and long-term recovery efforts for major California wildfires, as well as preparedness efforts, through grants since 2003. https://www.calfund.org/wildfire-relief-fund/

  2. The Salvation Army is providing respiratory masks and thousands of meals and snacks to evacuees in shelters, and to emergency responders, in both the northern and southern California fires. Mobile food service will begin to neighborhoods as the evacuation orders are lifted. http://www.salvationarmy-socal.org/southern-california/news/ca-wildfires

  3. Humane Society of Ventura County. This nonprofit is accepting donations to help animals displaced by the Woolsey and Hill Fires. It is taking in domestic animals, such as dogs, cats and birds, as well as livestock. This organization is not affiliated with the Human Society of the US. https://www.hsvc.org/donate.

  4. Entertainment Industry Foundation is providing support for the fire fighters and first responders during the fires. http://musicforrelief.org/california-wildfire-relief/

  5. The United Ways of LA and of Ventura County have partnered to form the Southern California Disaster Relief Fund to help low income victims of the fires. https://www.unitedwayla.org/en/give/disaster-relief-fund/

Once the smoke clears, literally, we will see a forever altered landscape. After we get our bearings in this new landscape, the slow process of rebuilding will begin. We have been here before. We have been through this process, on varying scales, throughout time. And each time, after the grief becomes another part of the new normal, we take the opportunity to "start from scratch" to "make it better than before" and a level of hopefulness gradually lightens the sense of loss. We have that to look forward to.

In the meantime, stay safe and take care of yourself.

And if you have been affected by the fires, our thoughts are with you. Please let us know how we can help.
 
Guest User