Lake County >> Two days after flames blasted the hills of Cobb, Hidden Valley and Middletown, Jennifer Strong was making phone calls. She was reaching out to the four separate Rotary clubs around the lake, bringing them together to form the Lake Area Rotary Club Association (LARCA). She was chasing after $50,000, which she hoped to raise for fire victims.
To say the LARCA surpassed that goal would be an understatement. Over a year later and the association had received $950,000 in donations. They’re inching toward the one million mark, and they very well might hit it.
LARCA never expected to reach such an astounding number.
“If we could raise $50,000, the original thought was that we might be able to do a few good things to help and it just took off from there and the contributions and donations started coming in,” Strong said.
The Association is made up of the four Rotary clubs in Lake County: Lakeport, Clearlake, Kelseyville, Middletown. But support has poured in from across the nation and the globe, not just from other Rotary clubs, but from numerous entities and organizations. Other fire fundraising groups here in Lake County have contributed to LARCA, too.
The association’s flagship project, which continues today, is centered around local businessed impact by the fire, not just in terms of physical damage, but monetary losses due to the essential closure of the Middletown and Cobb communities for weeks. At first, grants for $2,500 were available through LARCA. Businesses who applied were confirmed to have damage to their property or were shut down for a period of time. Then they received a grant.
But then the association was flooded by donations, so they doubled the amount. Grants for $5,000 became available, and the LARCA contacted those businesses that had already received their money to inform them that they could apply a second time. The Clayton Fire struck, and the LARCA business grant program extended its reach to include Lower Lake.
Now, over $250,000 in grants alone have been distributed to local businesses. And grants are still available. The association meets once a month to go over applications. The group is diverse, comprised of three members from each of the four clubs around the lake.
While their focus may be on business, for the last year and a half the LARCA has had their hand in a number of fire-related projects, including after school programs in Middletown. Quickly after the Valley Fire broke out, they met up with Superintendent of Lake County schools Brock Falkenberg to organize and fund programs for those students who lost their homes and had nowhere to go when the final bell rang.
After the Clayton Fire, the LARCA teamed up with District Supervisor Rob Brown to provide students who had lost everything with a shopping spree at Wal-Mart in Clearlake. 76 kids were able to replace school clothes and supplies.
Another significant project for the LARCA has been a joint effort between the Rotary association and Lake County Rising, a fire relief fund administered by local winery groups, to replace groves of burnt out trees in the fire areas. Through the effort of the two organizations, 100,000 trees were acquired, which are now ready to be distributed to property owners for planting.
But of those 100,000 trees, the LARCA has pulled out 3,000 for a community planting day at Trailside Park in Middletown beginning at 9 a.m. on March 25. “Anybody in the community that wants to come out and plant some trees, this is the time to do it,” said Strong.
Sprinkled between all of this, the LARCA has taken part in countless small acts of generosity, such as delivering gas and food cards to shelters after the Clayton Fire. “Rotarians definitely know how to get things done,” Strong said.
The association is still active, accepting donations, meeting once a month and giving money where it can make a difference. “As long as there’s need and as long as we have money we’re going to continue on,” said Strong. “We’re here as long as there’s a need and as long as we have funds to distribute.”
Those wishing to donate can visit larca5130.org.
Jennifer Gruenke can be reached at 900-2019.
