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Lending a Hand

RED BLUFF, Calif. – This has been a trying, heartbreaking time for the people in California, especially in the northern part of the state.

As of the morning of Nov. 17, more than 1,000 people were unaccounted for as California’s deadliest wildfire enters a second week.

The death toll rose to 71 in the Camp Fire that started Nov. 8 in Northern California. The list of people who are unaccounted for grew to 1,011 names, but that number may change once authorities follow up with families to confirm if they’ve heard from missing relatives, Butte County (Calif.) Sheriff and Coroner Kory Honea said Friday in an article at www.cnn.com.

Hundreds are still missing after California’s Camp Fire. In addition to the dozens killed, three other deaths were reported in the Woolsey Fire in Southern California, bringing the statewide death toll from the wildfires to 74.

The Camp Fire – the deadliest and most destructive wildfire in state history – has destroyed about 9,800 homes and scorched 146,000 acres (an increase of 5,000 acres Friday). It is 50 percent contained. It is 60 miles from Red Bluff.

In this time of great need, the Red Bluff Round-Up Association stepped up Saturday to give people hope.

The Red Bluff Round-Up Association loaded up supplies and the two truck beds overflowed with palettes of water, along with Round-Up merchandise such as hats, warm gloves, rodeo pins, ticket vouchers for the upcoming 2019 Red Bluff Round-Up (April 19-21) and Walmart gift cards for those impacted by the Camp Fire.

“One of our biggest missions here is we definitely want to give back to our community,” said James Miller, the general manager of the Red Bluff Rodeo. “These are people who are in our backyard who are being affected tremendously, and we felt like this would be a great way to give back to our community. We want to always have a positive impact into our community and this was a good way to do it. These are customers who come to our rodeo and we want to give back.”

The Red Bluff Round-Up was able to distribute the goods to evacuees located at Toys R Us parking lot, Chico East Alvechurch, Elks lodge, FEMA, and the Wal-Mart parking lot.

In response to the Red Bluff Round-Up Association’s act of kindness the Minot (N.D.) Y’s Men’s Rodeo is sending additional financial support to the Red Bluff Round-Up Association to distribute more goods. The Minot (N.D.) Y’s Men’s Rodeo also is challenging other rodeo committees to do the same.

For anyone wanting to make a donation, the checks may be made out to the Red Bluff Round-Up museum. With the donations, more supplies and gift cards will be purchased for those in need.

While many of these locations have donation sites that are being filled with clothing and some basic necessities, it seems what the needs that are not being sufficiently met are as follows:

• Gas cards
• Visa gift cards/store gift cards
• Sleeping bags
• Baby/toddler items
• New items such as undergarments and socks
• Evacuation site with basic utilities to shower, use the restroom or launder what little clothing they have space to keep with them.

We were also notified that the evacuees who have been camping out next to the Walmart parking lot (including families with small children and infants), are being removed and forced to leave as of Nov. 18.

“The reaction from people was shock, gratitude, and people worried about where they will go once they are forced to leave,” Miller said. “People talked about being out of work due to their places of business being taken in the fire. One man who was 1 year away from retirement said he will now have to postpone retirement due to losing everything and needing to rebuild a life for himself and his family.”

Courtesy of PRCA

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