OAKHURST — You needn’t look far to find that giving spirit that defines the foothills.
Just one day ago, Dee Ann Smith at Discover Yosemite put out the call, asking for community help to fill a bus with snacks and water so it could be driven up to support firefighters and other responders in the hard-hit town of Santa Rosa, reeling from devastating wildfires.
In Oakhurst, the community answered back, and now local rations for Santa Rosa are officially en route.
“We got about 1,500 pounds of donations, including water, Gatorade, lots of snacks, toiletries, diapers, pet food, and fruit,” says Dee Ann, who is immensely grateful to everyone who contributed items and blessings including cash money.
“It was an overwhelming response in just 24 hours. Individuals and businesses really came through.”
Dee Ann Smith explained yesterday that people in her office know scores of friends whose homes were destroyed by wildfire this week, so they were doing a lot of messaging and seeing moment-to-moment developments and needs coming from the area on social media. So rather than sit and fret, they banded together, reaching out to replace despair with action.
Now the snack-filled bus is destined to arrive, driven by Discover Yosemite’s Ralph Fairfield, accompanied by his lovely wife, Martha.
For anyone who would still like to contribute, good news: James Nimmo has a limo as part of designated driver and transport service provider, Nimmo SST Transport, and he’s busy collecting donations for evacuees at the Sonoma Fairgrounds. Give him a call at (559) 753-4288. James wants to take lip balm, toys, toiletries, wet wipes, bottled water and you-name-it to help people who are suffering in the wake of disaster.
Another local resident, Donna Dozier of Trendz Hair Studio, plans to start accepting donations next week as well. We’ll keep you posted on future plans to help our neighbors to the north in California as they deal with the heartbreak and trauma of this ongoing loss and displacement.
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