Erskine fire disaster relief

St. Vincent de Paul, St. Malachy Conference along with the financial assistance of our National Organization was able to provide some relief for those in the Erskine fire that lost so much. Larry Fanucchi and Eileen Butera from our organization were put in touch with Tehachapi's American Legion's Post and Post 711 out of Kern River Valley as well as St. Jude's Catholic Church in Woffords' Heights. These two organizations had seen so much of the fire damage first hand and were screening those in desperate need of financial help. With a grant of $5,000 from our Disaster Committee we were able to make their lives a little more tolerable. Following is a recap from Larry and Eileen's visit with them.

On Aug. 17, we visited St. Jude's Catholic Church to meet some parishioners who lost everything except for the clothes on their backs and, fortunately, their pets. The second stop was with representatives of Post 711. They had in place criteria to determine those with the greatest need to be able to focus what resources they had on Vet's and non-Vet's alike. The stories they told were frightening. Residents answered knocks on their doors and were told to be ready to evacuate in 20 minutes but in less time than that their homes were aflame. From across the lake, others told of watching the fire, driven by high winds, race down canyon's and over ridges after nightfall. The visitation process resulted in St. Vincent de Paul assisting them with the entire grant money and wished it could have been much more.

Additional thanks to the following that played a big part helping SVdP:

Harriet and Norm Clendenin; Steve Fletcher Post 711; Society of St. Vincent de Paul;

Disaster Services Division; and Elizabeth Disco-Shearer COO.