Lakeport >> The effort to coordinate all of the donated resources flooding into Lake County for fire relief has finally come to a head, thanks to a spirit of community fostered by one property owner and a group of hard-working, dedicated volunteers.
Thanks to owner Ed Olson, the warehouse known as the Work Right Building, the former site of a shower door manufacturing company, has been transformed into a base of operations for the Federal Emergency Management Agency, and a massive sorting and distribution center for quantifying and dispersing donations to relief centers throughout the county.
The upstairs office area, measuring 7,600 square feet, is half-full of FEMA agents, and the 60,000-square-foot warehouse floor is being filled — almost entirely — by donations, furniture, volunteers and the equipment they use for sorting.
According to property manager Stan Drake, the amount of donations flowing into the warehouse has been impressive.
“There’s just gobs of donations coming in. They (volunteers) are just sorting constantly,” he said. “It’s full with food, clothing, items they’re sorting … It’s a lot of stuff to distribute.”
“A lot of stuff” may be something of an understatement. All of the donations that had built up at the Calistoga Fairgrounds are making their way to the warehouse, along with the collected resources of many if not all of the various shelters scattered throughout the county, and several additional semi-truckloads of goods that have been stored elsewhere in the area.
According to Lori Thornton, a volunteer who became the de-facto coordinator of the distribution center, the volume of donations and those wanting to help has been nothing less than phenomenal.
“We have had an outpouring … not just local people, but also from outside of our county. I just had a lady call from Paradise, going to come up and help out on Thursday,” she said. “I have been inundated with calls. People are so thankful there’s someplace they can come help. We got this warehouse a week ago Sunday, now it’s turned into … I can’t believe.”
One of the more ambitious projects volunteers are undertaking is tracking down recreational vehicles to be used as temporary housing for those who are living out of tents or in other untenable situations.
“This is something amazing: We’ve been able to get RVs donated … 10 to 12 donated to get people into something other than tents,” said Thornton. “We have four people working on it. This is probably going to be the year it rains, and we’re going to need something other than tents.
“We got a guy with connections in the RV industry who’s working hard to get more RVs. Somebody from Napa is also working on it. This will get them someplace to go. I know a lot of people want to stay here … and we want them to stay.”
Though still being refined, a distribution system has been worked out. As new donations are brought in, volunteers work hastily to get the items sorted and into boxes. As the relief centers identify a need, they contact the distribution center through a special hotline that has been established, with a list of all the items they’re searching for.
A delivery is then assembled and volunteer drivers from UPS deliver the items to the relief centers.
Thornton added that the relief effort is for everyone affected by the Valley Fire, and that they fully intend to be involved for the long haul.
“Our goal is they can come in and get what they need. Even if they didn’t lose their home they’re still affected by it,” she said. “We live here. All these other agencies are going to leave the county. We’re not. We want to help all that we can.”
“I can’t stress the fact that we’re all here to help everybody to recover.”
“There’s a lot of workers and volunteers here. It’s a good atmosphere,” said Drake. “Everybody is working together, doing what they need to do.”
According to Drake, the property owner’s long-term goal for the property is to bring some manufacturing jobs back into Lake County, but in the short-term he is content to let the volunteers and their donation center stay for a while.
“He (Olson) wanted to help. He had the available square feet … whatever to help the community.”
