OBceans Aid In Camp Fire Relief

Pam Lloyd and Linda Taggart at the Airport with clothing donations for Camp Fire survivors (photo courtesy of Linda Taggart)

by Bob Edwards

Some Ocean Beach and Point Loma residents have been generous in providing assistance to the people of Paradise and its neighboring towns of Cancow and Magalia in northern California. (See my most recent post about the fires.)

Early last month, two OB residents, Linda Taggart and Pam Lloyd, collected clothing and $550 in donations. They traveled to northern California to present those donations to community groups in Chico that are working on providing relief to survivors of the fire.

The local women had been planning a trip to view migrating tundra swans in neighboring Yuba County and, having become aware of the fire situation, decided to collect donations and bring them along on the visit.

Paradise Strong Sign (from city of Paradise facebook page)

According to Linda, the smell of smoke still permeated the air in Chico even though the fire had been fully contained ten days earlier. Many people who lost homes were sheltered at the county fairgrounds.

The hotel in Yuba City where the two women stayed was almost completely filled with evacuees and utility and construction workers who were aiding in debris removal and  reconstruction in the affected towns.

After doing some research into charitable organizations that were working with fire survivors, they elected to donate to the Chico Goodwill. Goodwill was giving 100% of collected funds to the fire victims, unlike the Salvation Army which was taking an 8% 10% cut, Linda said. Goodwill also allowed people affected by the fire to shop free for household items and clothing.

Manager of Chico Goodwill accepting donations from OBceans (photo by Linda Taggart)

At the Chico Goodwill, Pam and Linda met a manager and employee who had lost their homes in the fire. In fact, they discovered that the majority of the Chico Goodwill employees were also fire survivors. Although these folks must have been devastated, the accompanying photos show they were still able to muster smiles at the kindness of the OB locals who were helping out.

Goodwill employee processing clothing donations (photo by Linda Taggart)

Linda and Pam weren’t the only OBceans who collected money for fire relief.  As covered in a December article in the OB Rag, the OB Town Council designated that $1000 raised in their annual Holiday Auction be donated to the North Valley Community Foundation in Chico. The foundation has been providing grants to people and organizations that are aiding those who are suffering in the fire’s aftermath.

Kudos to everyone who has contributed to helping our fellow Californians in their time of need!