How You Can Help San Diego’s Fire Victims

by Carole A. Lane on October 24th, 2007

If there is any upside to the story of San Diego’s Firestorm 2007, it’s definitely the way San Diegans are coming together to help the victims of the fires.

Some of the shelters have more volunteers than evacuees, and some have asked that you call before you show up to help or bring goods, because they actually have too much!

Evacuees at Qualcomm Stadium have received food (including kosher food) and beds, toiletries and medical care, but many other services have also been provided, including Internet access, free charging for cell phones, massage therapy, yoga, and toys and art projects for kids. Food and care has also been provided to the evacuees’ animals. There has been entertainment including clowns and bands. Information about filing insurance claims has also been provided.

This doesn’t mean that the shelters or evacuees have everything that they need.

Medical Volunteers

Medical professionals are still needed. Medical volunteers can register through Volunteer San Diego, where they’ll be contacted and deployed as needed.

Other Volunteers

Please do not show up at the shelters. You can register through Volunteer San Diego, and wait to be contacted so that they can tell you where they need you to go. The American Red Cross is also training and coordinating volunteers. (Click the links above for additional information about each of these organizations’ efforts.)

2-1-1 is seeking volunteers to help in the next 72 hours to take calls and/or fill other roles at 2-1-1 should that be needed. If interested, email Meg Storer at mstorer@211sandiego.org with your name, phone number where you can be reached, your email address, and the dates/times that work best with you schedule. A 2-1-1 person will contact you directly once you send that information.

Monetary Donations

The American Red Cross advises:

“You can help the victims of thousands of disasters across the country each year, disasters like the Harris/Witch Creek wildfires, by making a financial gift to the American Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund, which enables the Red Cross to provide shelter, food, counseling and other assistance to victims of disaster. The American Red Cross honors donor intent. If you wish to designate your donation to a specific disaster please do so at the time of your donation.”

Volunteer San Diego is also accepting monetary donations that will go towards supporting the disaster volunteer recruitment efforts for the wildfires.

Donations of Goods

The list of goods needed changes constantly, and varies by location. While one location may need wipes for babies, another needs hay for horses.

Companies that would like to donate goods to evacuees should read Mayor Jerry Sanders Media Advisory: Donations for Fire Evacuees at Qualcomm Stadium.

A toll-free hotline has been established by the governor’s office for businesses interested in making “large quantity” donations to people displaced by the Southern California wildfires. The number is (800) 750-2858.

Businesses with large quantities of items to donate can also contact 2-1-1 or (619) 236-6175 for instructions on how best to get the goods to where they’re needed.

For individuals who wish to donate, other goods are being accepted by Father Joe’s Villages (St. Vincent De Paul), The San Diego Food Bank, and local branches of The Salvation Army, and Goodwill Industries. (Click their links for more information.)

Other Ways You Can Help

The San Diego Blood Bank has had to close some of their donor centers due to poor air quality. They are asking for blood, and sending out bloodmobiles each day in order to collect those donations. (Click on the link above for this information.)

The American Red Cross has also had to cancel scheduled blood drives during this emergency, so they are asking for blood for hospital patients throughout the county. You can make an appointment to donate by calling 1-800-GIVE-LIFE or 1-800-POR-VIDA (Spanish).

San Diegans can also help by conserving energy, as SDG&E advises us that the region’s power grid is operating at near maximum capacity. Of course, we are also asked to conserve water.

We are urged to stay off of the freeways, as well as our cell phones, in order to make it easier for emergency crews to get through.

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The San Diego Traveler