As California fires burn, Catholic Charities aids victims

Paradise Elementary School was damaged in the 2018 California fires. Photo: Josh Edelson AFP Getty News

SACRAMENTO, California: As wildfires continue to burn throughout the state of California, local Catholic Charities agencies are working with agencies in neighbouring states to coordinate relief.

The so-called Camp Fire in Northern California has claimed at least 42 lives in the town of Paradise and has destroyed more than 6,500 homes, making it the deadliest wildfire in the state’s history. The fire is only a quarter contained, according to The New York Times, and the local sheriff announced Sunday that nearly 230 people were still missing.

At the same time, the Woolsey Fire west of Los Angeles has destroyed an estimated 370 structures and claimed two lives so far.

Matt Vaughan, director of communications for Catholic Charities of Northern Nevada (CCNN), told CNA that the agency is working to gather supplies for survivors of the fires. CCNN is headquartered in Reno, Nevada, which is approximately 160 miles east of Chico, California, one of the largest cities affected by the Camp Fire.

“We’re trying to collect donations, which we will then send over, most likely to Chico,” Vaughan said.

“It sounds like they’re asking for a lot of the donations to be sent there right now, just because some of the other areas are affected [by the fire]. … We have been in contact with Catholic Charities in Sacramento,” he said.

“We’re just really focusing on getting the really crucial, needed items over to the affected victims over there at this point. … Warm clothes, shoes, paper products, blankets and coats are among the most needed items right now. And that’s really what we’re asking the community to provide.”

Delivering supplies

Yvette Myers, chief program officer for CCNN, said she hopes to hear from the agency in Sacramento soon, as well as from the national branch of Catholic Charities, about the best way to deliver supplies.

She said they are working jointly with a local organization to send trucks full of supplies to California, starting Nov. 16, and that they won’t know how big the truck will need to be until they begin receiving donations.

“We’re waiting to hear back from Sacramento … about if it’s a possibility that we bring trucks to them, where they’re going to go. So it’s kind of a waiting game right at the moment,” Meyers said.

“We’re actually waiting to hear back from [Catholic Charities USA] … about what the plan is.”

“Their greatest needs are clothing, hygiene, blankets, coats; they can use anything, but that’s what they’re really asking for right now,” she said.

According to the Diocese of Reno, items that are donated that are not accepted by the donation centres in California will go to local St. Vincent’s Thrift Stores in Nevada.

Source: Catholic News Agency