NORTH COAST, Calif. – Among the many entities raising funds to assist those impacted by the Valley fire is a partnership including a state Legislator and a regional credit union.
Not long after the Valley fire broke out, Redwood Credit Union joined several other local organizations that were accepting financial donations to help victims.
Since then, the credit union has received donations at a secure Web site, www.redwoodcu.org/lakecountyfirevictims , at its 16 North Bay and San Francisco branches and through other fundraisers.
In the four weeks since the fire started, Redwood Credit Union has raised $1.85 million, which was given by 7,500 donors, said Robin McKenzie, senior vice president of Redwood Credit Union's marketing and communications.
Contributors included individual sponsors, organizations and businesses that either donated directly or did their own fundraisers and benefits, McKenzie said.
In the first three weeks, they received many calls, emails and contacts offering help. “It was quite a blur,” she said.
McKenzie also called the response “inspiring.”
McKenzie said 100-percent of donations are going to victims and fire relief efforts, with Redwood Credit Union covering all administrative costs and processing fees.
And donations continue to come in, she said.
The money in Redwood Credit Union's Lake County Fire Relief is being gathered through the nonprofit entity, Redwood Credit Union Community Fund Inc., McKenzie said.
She said the fundraising effort is a partnership between Redwood Credit Union and the Santa Rosa Press Democrat, in conjunction with state Sen. Mike McGuire's office.
“As a community, we all wanted to help,” said McKenzie, noting the shock and concern felt for Lake County's fire victims.
She said the partnership reached out to Cal Fire, the Lake County Sheriff's Office and the Lake County Office of Emergency Services, collaborating with them as advisors for the fundraising effort's committee.
They also reached out to Lake County Superintendent of Schools Brock Falkenberg and to the superintendents of the three directly impacted school districts – Middletown, Konocti and Kelseyville – to gauge needs, she said.
Additional partnerships have been formed with North Coast Opportunities, Community Action Partnership Sonoma and other nonprofits, McKenzie said.
Because of the way the law works with such giving, Redwood Credit Union can make allocations through its advisory fund, but can't do an application process like that used by North Coast Opportunities, the charter for which allows that kind of process, McKenzie explained.
So far, McKenzie said about $555,000 has been disbursed for urgent needs.
“First responders was one of our focuses,” she said.
She said $25,000 has been allocated specifically to help the firefighters and sheriff's deputies who lost their own homes while responding to the Valley fire.
Other areas of concern included children in schools and animals, McKenzie said.
McKenzie said about 350 students and staff in the Kelseyville, Konocti and Middletown school districts also were a focus of assistance, with the effort providing gift cards for clothes and school supplies.
She explained that the partnership did extensive outreach on animal care for pets and livestock. That led to a $100,000 grant to the Lake County Farm Bureau to help cover costs for housing large livestock, as well as grants of $1,000 per family that needed livestock support.
McKenzie said North Coast Opportunities had so many applications that Redwood Credit Union stepped in to partner and help identify needs for urgent care.
As a result, she said there 241 grants of $1,500 each through North Coast Opportunities applicants, as well as assistance to emergency centers for housing and food costs.
Separately, North Coast Opportunities recognized the “significant” contribution from Redwood Credit Union's Lake County Fire Victim Relief Fund
McGuire also has assisted by helping direct Redwood Credit Union and its partners to area of need, McKenzie said.
McKenzie said McGuire and his office have served as a primary information hub for the effort.
In addition to working to disburse funds for urgent and immediate needs, McKenzie said they also are looking and mid- and long-range needs – including housing support – with a view to supporting economic recovery and rebuilding.
“At this point in time, we see that the need is still being identified in Lake County,” she said.
As such, McKenzie said they will continue to collect funds for the foreseeable future.
“We're in it to support Lake County through recovery,” she said.
Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.
Redwood Credit Union's Lake County Fire Relief Fund responds to immediate needs, looks toward recovery
- Elizabeth Larson
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