Helping Victims of Carlton Complex Fire

From an e-mail sent by Bob Shepard of Serve Wenatchee Valley:

Dear Partners,

I attended the agency collaborative meeting facilitated by the Red Cross yesterday to get an update on needs of the fire victims.

Right now the biggest and most immediate need is gas cards and gift cards  We have set up an account for donations and will be having our affiliate Chelan Valley Hope or some of the churches in Brewster help with the distribution of the funds we receive.

I have contacted some of the pastors in Brewster and they will keep me informed about community needs and/or individual family needs that our churches might be able to respond to. If you have any connections with any of the churches in Brewster, please let me know.

In the meantime, places like the Salvation Army and the Seventh Day Adventist Community Center are in need of volunteer help for sorting all the donations of clothing, food, non-food etc. they have received. We will not be receiving donations of items such as clothing, furniture etc. for the fire victims at this time but rather refer inquiries to these other two organizations.

The more long term needs will include financial assistance which could be addressed by a benefit concert of other fundraisers. We will collaborate with the Community Foundation for distribution since both our ministry and their organization will not be taking any administrative costs from the donations with 100% of the donations going to victims of the local fires. Any donations passed on through us should be made payable to Serve Wenatchee Valley with “Fire relief” in the memo section of the check.

If you have questions, please feel free to contact me.

P.S. There has been preliminary talk about a benefit concert somewhere like Lincoln Park sometime in the next two months. Let me know if there is anyone from your church being interested in helping plan such an event. Blessings, Bob