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CALISTOGA, CA \u2014 The wildfires that have ravaged Northern California this month have left more than 1,000 people homeless and in shelters throughout surrounding cities, but entire communities have united to support and comfort the evacuees.<\/p>\n
One of those efforts has been spearheaded by a group of Latina women who formed an organization of community volunteers in Calistoga, which has resulted in numerous donations and hundreds of other volunteers at the Napa Valley Fairgrounds shelter, where most of those affected found refuge on Saturday, Sept. 12.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe had no means to give money, but we could give our time,\u201d said Viridiana Agapoff, a native of Oaxaca, Mexico and coordinator of the group Valley Fire Volunteer, Calistoga.<\/p>\n
Agapoff, along with her mother, aunts and grandmother, visited the Red Cross shelter on Saturday night after learning about its opening, and found hundreds of evacuees who had arrived from severely affected cities such as Middletown, Cobb and Hidden Valley.<\/p>\n
The lack of organization and essential supplies became apparent.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was an unprecedented event,\u201d said American Canyon council member Belia Ramos, who was in charge of soliciting donations and volunteers through social media networks. \u201cIt was a disaster that occurred in other counties, and because of that we responded to the emergency.\u201d<\/p>\n
After recognizing some logistical problems, Agapoff formed Valley Fire Volunteer, Calistoga, and on Monday Sept. 14, she set up a registration table for people who wanted to help.<\/p>\n
That day 180 volunteers registered; by Tuesday, 264 were registered.<\/p>\n
While the Red Cross provided medical services and received monetary donations, Valley Fire Volunteer, Calistoga focused on receiving spontaneous donations such as clothing, tents, blankets and inflatable beds.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was a collective effort,\u201d said Agapoff. \u201cWe wanted to ensure that these families have shelter and that they know they\u2019re not alone.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cFor as bad as the disaster was, there have also been many good things,\u201d said Michelle Mazzi, a resident of Cobb\u2014where the fire originated\u2014whose house was reduced to ashes. \u201cAll this generosity has been very healing.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mazzi recounted that during the week of Sept. 14, four Latino families gathered to cook a feast of Mexican food. \u201cIt was so delicious, so wonderful,\u201d she said.
\nJose Clavel, a gardener from Oaxaca who has been living in Hidden Valley for four years, acknowledged that because of the volunteers and their help, his family has not lacked for anything.<\/p>\n
\u201cI ask God to bless them [the volunteers],\u201d said Clavel, who fled his home when the fire was five meters from his house. His property wasn\u2019t damaged.<\/p>\n
The most complicated day was Wednesday, Sept. 16, when rain and a request from the Red Cross for the spontaneous volunteers to undergo mandatory training delayed the workflow.<\/p>\n
According Agapoff, when she sought help from the Red Cross, their representatives branded her organization\u2019s work within the shelter as illegal.
\n\u201cI was asked to remove all of the volunteer signs,\u201d said Agapoff.<\/p>\n
Trevor Riggen, regional chief executive officer of the Red Cross, said that the lack of communication between the two groups was unfortunate and praised the work that Valley Fire Volunteer, Calistoga had been doing.<\/p>\n
A key volunteer was local chef Andy Wild, who served as the culinary coordinator.<\/p>\n
Wild oversaw the inventory of food and cooks, spending anywhere from 18 to 20 hours a day in the kitchen shelter. \u201cWhen problems arise, we\u2019re here to help the community,\u201d said Wild.<\/p>\n
Adrian Campos, originally of Jalisco, Mexico, has lived in Calistoga for 23 years; on Sunday, Sept. 20 he spent nearly $1,000 on ingredients to make tacos and pozole.<\/p>\n
\u201cMoney comes and goes,\u201d Campos said. \u201cThe people need it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Other free services that were offered with the help of community volunteers and local businesses were haircuts, electrical charging stations, massages, chiropractic therapy and daycares.<\/p>\n
According to Ramos, the new work for volunteers includes sorting donations, packing them and sending them to the new shelters in Lake County, which will be used by the evacuees in the coming days.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are immigrants who come [to the United States] with hopes of finding work and to improve our lives,\u201d said Ira\u00eds Lopez, Agapoff\u2019s mother and a Calistoga city council member. \u201cWe are now in a position to help.\u201d <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
CALISTOGA, CA \u2014 The wildfires that have ravaged Northern California this month have left more than 1,000 people homeless and in shelters throughout surrounding cities, but entire communities have united to support and comfort the evacuees.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":35,"featured_media":28037,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"newspack_popups_has_disabled_popups":false,"newspack_featured_image_position":"","newspack_post_subtitle":"","newspack_article_summary_title":"Overview:","newspack_article_summary":"","newspack_hide_updated_date":false,"newspack_show_updated_date":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3929],"tags":[6397,6407,6409,6403,6405,6401,6411,6399],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-28030","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-en","tag-calistoga","tag-cobb","tag-hidden-valley","tag-middletown","tag-napa","tag-northern-california","tag-red-cross","tag-wildfire","entry"],"yoast_head":"\n