Friday Five
No doubt, 2020 has taken its toll on the Bay Area — in more ways than one. In the middle of a pandemic, we’ve just watched wildfires burn more than 1 million acres of land in the past week. And they still burn.
It’s hard to fathom the impact of the wildfires on our communities. Whether it’s getting displaced from your home, living in terror, or losing a home or business, it’s truly more than any person can bear. If there’s any way the Bay Area is going to get through the rest of this year, it’s by supporting one another. Here are five ways you can help those affected by the wildfires. Please take action and share with others.
1. Give money to local communities
This is probably the number one most effective and helpful thing you can do. With so many people losing so much, an enormous amount of funds are needed to help people get back on their feet. There are plenty of ways you can give to financially support local communities that have been affected by the wildfires. If you want to support a specific county, you can donate to:
- Santa Cruz County Community Fund
- San Mateo and Santa Clara County Fire Relief Fund
- Sonoma County Resilience Fund
- Napa Valley Community Foundation
- Solano Disaster Relief Fund
GoFundMe has launched a centralized hub with all verified fundraisers created to help residents who have lost their homes and been displaced by the fires, in addition to GoFundMe’s own California Wildfire Relief Fund. You can also support firefighters (and their families) who are valiantly battling on the front lines by giving to the California Fire Foundation. Your donation will go toward scholarships to children of fallen firefighters, aid to victims, and fire safety resources to underserved communities across California.
2. Support farmers and field workers
Many family farms, ranches, and farmworkers are facing the bleak reality that they may not make it through this wildfire season. With farm structures destroyed and crops demolished, farmers all around the Bay Area have a long road ahead toward recovery. You can donate to the California Alliance of Family Farmers to directly support members of the agricultural community affected by disaster. Pie Ranch, one of our favorite stops in Pescadero, lost its 157-year-old farmhouse to the wildfires — you can donate here. Many undocumented farmers and field workers can’t afford stop working during this harvest season, despite the unhealthy levels of smoke in the air. Donate to support undocumented farmworkers in Monterey Bay, Sonoma, and San Mateo Coast.
3. Help rebuild Big Basin and its surrounding forests
To have California’s oldest state park destroyed by this fire is perhaps one of the most heartbreaking pieces of news in this seemingly never-ending episode of unfortunate events—though, thankfully, experts say it will recover. To support Big Basin’s long-term recovery efforts, the Sempervirens Fund, the state’s oldest land trust, is the only organization focused entirely on protecting and caring for local redwood forests between Silicon Valley and the Pacific Ocean. There’s also has an ongoing fund for restoring Santa Cruz redwood forests here.
4. Give food and support your local eateries
Off the Grid, the company behind many of the Bay Area’s food truck gatherings, is raising funds to make meals for those displaced by the fires. For every meal you help fund (a $12 donation), you will provide a basic need to those who have been affected by the fires and financially support local food businesses that have been suffering during the Covid-19 pandemic. In Santa Cruz, Off the Grid has partnered with local eateries, including Santa Cruz Diner, Tramonti Italian, Bagelry, and Choke Coach, in providing meals to displaced individuals at various Santa Cruz Hotels. Sacrilege Brewing in Half Moon Bay is seeking donations for meals to feed local firefighters battling the CZU Lightning Complex Fires, just 20 miles away.
5. Volunteer
If you are physically equipped to volunteer, consider supporting your community through the American Red Cross. The humanitarian organization has already provided 2,300 Californians seeking refuge from the wildfires with shelter, meals, and relief items. Sonoma-based Redwood Empire Food Bank, which serves much of Northern California, is seeking volunteers to help distribute food and is encouraging people to host food drives. If you have available space, you can also offer up your home temporarily to those displaced by the fire through AirBnB.
