Just two months ago, Steve Medina and scores of local volunteers were supporting the Ventura County community during the Mountain Fire. At that time, American Red Cross Los Angeles Region volunteers traveled north to assist and lend a hand when it was needed most.
Never missing an opportunity to return a favor, Medina immediately volunteered to help when the Palisades, Hurst and Eaton fires tore across Los Angeles. On the day the shelter in Pasadena opened for evacuees of the Eaton fire, he was there offering hot meals, emotional support, and shelter to wildfire survivors and their pets.
Volunteer Colleen Thompson, also from Ventura County, brings a calming presence, gentle voice and caring heart to those she is helping at the shelter. “Being present to give survivors who are struggling and suffering a safe space to speak with someone who cares is the beginning of their healing process,” she said.
Public Affairs volunteer Sivani Babu says she was motivated to volunteer for the Red Cross when wildfires threatened her Santa Barbara neighborhood a few years ago. “That reminded me of the important role the Red Cross has in helping unfortunate people.” Babu is heading south on the 101 each day to assist at the Pasadena shelter. Many of the photos and stories of the evacuees and volunteers at the shelter are her work.
Red Crossers Veronique Royer and Manny Lerma deployed from Bakersfield to help with the January wildfires in Los Angeles. Royer is a staff services manager, and is also filling roles in handling Event-Based-Volunteers and other operations tasks. Lerma is a jack-of-all-trades and a master of all. He is filling roles all across the County – driving Emergency Response Vehicles, delivering supplies and even handling Spanish language media interviews when necessary.
From Fresno, a trio of American Red Cross volunteers sprang into action to help the thousands displaced by the devastating wildfires across Los Angeles County. Elvia Reyna-Pacheco, Deborah Blaze and Dana Sakoda have each deployed to several disasters in California – and across the country —-to help in evacuation shelters where it’s needed most
Sakoda shared with CBS47 Fresno that, “We’re there to help the folks that have been displaced because of the fire, give them support. There are folks out there that really care a lot about them.”
Reyne-Pacheco is a retired nurse and sheltering volunteer. At the Pasadena shelter, she spent some time assisting Jacqulene Cole and her dog, Pharoah, who were very impressed by the Red Cross operation. “The volunteers, here, like Elvia, here have treated me amazing,” Cole said. “When I get home, I’m going to find someplace I can write a review. I can’t say enough about what they’ve done for me.”
While volunteers were streaming into Los Angeles, another wildfire started closer to home. The wind-whipped Kenneth Fire forced a evacuation of the Oak Park community in Ventura County. Red Cross volunteers once again sprang into action and opened a shelter at the Calvary church in Westlake Village.
Volunteers from all corners of our region – and all across the country – are bringing comfort and hope to those in our shelters as they recover from devastating wildfires in Southern California. Their focus is on making sure everyone has a safe place to stay, and no one faces this heartbreaking crisis alone.
Red Cross Central California Blog 