CLEARLAKE, Calif. – Dozens of children who lost their homes and most of their possessions in the Clayton fire found themselves at the heart of an outpouring of generosity on Wednesday, with tens of thousands of dollars raised from community organizations and residents to help purchase much-needed school clothes and supplies.
County Supervisor Rob Brown launched the fundraising effort earlier this week to benefit Konocti Unified School District students who were particularly hard hit by the fire, which burned nearly 4,000 acres and destroyed close to 200 homes.
In under two days Brown – working with community organizations and individuals – managed to raise close to $52,000 to help the children.
On Wednesday afternoon, dozens of the students and their families came to the Clearlake Walmart, where each of the children received a $400 gift card.
Brown was on hand to greet the families, along with members of the Lake Area Rotary Club Association, or LARCA; Lake County Rising; Redwood Credit Union; Konocti Unified administrative staff, including Superintendent Donna Becnel; and Walmart employees.
Both Brown and fellow Supervisor Jim Comstock gave a hug to a woman weeping with gratitude.
Comstock emerged from the encounter with tears in his eyes. He acknowledged the heartbreak of the situation, but then turned his focus to the community's generosity, nothing that what had been brought together was “amazing.”
Amazing was an apt description of what took place.
Beginning on Monday, as Lower Lake students were still preparing for a return to school delayed by more than a week due to the fire, Brown contacted district officials to ask if they could provide a list of students whose homes had been lost.
Bilalia Mubashshir, Konocti Unified's youth services coordinator and a Rotarian, quickly responded and began working with principals and teachers to assemble a list.
Mubashshir said they identified a total of 58 children whose homes had been destroyed. Brown added that the number includes children who are homeschooled.
Next, Brown began outreach to community groups, including LARCA, whose members Russ Cremer and Dirk Slooten estimate has raised more than $800,000 for last summer's wildland fires before setting to work to begin fundraising once again for Clayton fire relief.
Cremer said LARCA recently received more than $10,200 from within the six-county Rotary district that includes Lake County, with the district asking that the funds go to one group.
Those funds, he said, were pledged to Brown's fundraising effort.
In addition, Redwood Credit Union, also a major fundraiser for local wildland fire relief, pitched in $5,000, according to Meg Cadiz, assistant vice president for community programs, and Andy Ramos, senior vice president for membership experience, both of whom made the trip from Santa Rosa on Wednesday to be on hand for the gift card giveaway.
“We worked with a lot of these community partners through the Valley fire,” said Cadiz.
On Tuesday night, Brown had put out a request on Facebook, which Lake County News also shared via social media and its main Web site, asking for donations. Brown said he was overwhelmed with the response, with dozens of messages pledging assistance rolling in around the clock.
He estimated that when he arrived at the store on Wednesday, he had about $32,000 in hand, plus another $10,000 pledged.
Then, on Wednesday, Clearlake Walmart Manager Travis Peck said the company also was donating $10,000 to the effort.
The store, beginning last year, has been a hub for fire relief. It had been in the portion of Clearlake that was under a mandatory Clayton fire evacuation order, had stayed open Aug. 15 and 16 to provide water, Gatorade and other supplies to first responders, Peck said.
In addition to offering assistance for Brown's fundraiser, Peck said store employees are going to be volunteering with recovery effort, and are planning a community event next month.
For the families impacted by the fire, the Lake County Fair contributed free entry tickets for next month's fair and its Midway of Fun. Fair Chief Executive Officer Debbie Strickler and the fair's mascot, Barty the Pear, were on hand to give the tickets away.
Altogether, the result was that enough had been raised to pay for $400 gift cards for 77 children, Brown said. They were keeping the nearly 20 additional cards ready as they locate any other children in need.
The Martinez family – parents Mario and Guadalupe, sons Mario, 18, Jose, 16, and Aaron, 10, and 12-year-old daughter Isabelle – lost their home on Winchester Street behind Lower Lake High School.
The grateful family gathered to have their picture taken with Brown.
The younger Mario, a student at Lower Lake High School, said they were focusing on picking up the essentials in order to try to get life back to normal.
Asked what it was like to go back to school, he said, “It was pretty weird.”
The offer of help in the form of the gift cards, which he found out about on Tuesday from his principal, definitely made him feel better.
The family is now renting a home in Clearlake, he said.
“It's very hard, but we're getting through,” he said.
Mubashshir said that, so far, attendance in the district looks good, and they are still working to assess what the children will need going forward. In addition to clothes, she's heard there is a need for things like bedding.
As for meeting those needs, “We've found the gift cards are the best way to go,” Mubashshir said.
Mubashshir said they will be looking at long-term needs, which will become more evident in the weeks and months ahead.
As for Brown, who is serving as the county's co-recovery coordinator along with County Administrative Officer Carol Huchingson, shows no sign of slowing down in his fire relief efforts.
He said he'll continue to offer assistance in any way he can.
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.
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