Camp Fire disaster inspires outpouring of Quincy donations

November 24, 2018November 21, 2018 Roni Java, Staff Writer

As one of several businesses that immediately mobilized to assist evacuees from the Butte County Camp Fire last week, The Hope Chest in East Quincy welcomed people with free coats, boots, clothing and more. Nanci Lebsack, left, volunteered at the shop that is owned by her mother, Victoria Powell. Photos by Roni Java

As worn-out evacuees from the raging devastation of Butte County’s Camp Fire disaster began arriving in Quincy on Sunday, Nov. 11 — exhausted, overwhelmed, with little to their names and frequently unprepared for the colder temperatures at this elevation — compassionate residents and business people quickly mobilized.

Free coats, boots and more

For several days following the Nov. 8 outbreak of the wildland fire that quickly became an inferno, three stores — Quincy Thrift & Company, the Hope Chest and Plumas District Hospital’s Bargain Boutique — opened their doors and began providing free coats, clothing, shoes, blankets, foodstuffs and other necessities to the fire victims, while the Red Cross evacuation shelter was being set up at the county fairgrounds off Highway 70 in East Quincy.

Other businesses began accepting donations of various goods and supplies from their customers, bundling up the deliveries for drop off at two local churches in coordination with the Plumas County Office of Emergency Services and its Emergency Operations Center.

“Everybody wants to help, people here realize the importance of community,” said Plumas County Behavioral Health’s acting alcohol and drug administrator Tori Brown, who is serving as the county’s EOC donations coordinator during the unprecedented disaster that has displaced 52,000 people in Butte County.

Brown confirmed Nov. 13 that Quincy area residents had been generously meeting the request to bring necessities like diapers, shampoo, toothpaste and much more to the Seventh-day Adventist Church on Pine Street and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on Bellamy Lane.

“We’ve had great community support and we want everyone to know how much we appreciate that,” Brown added.

Camp Fire evacuees have found shelter, warm clothes, hot soup and many helping hands throughout Quincy and Plumas County since the fire displaced an incredible 52,000 people.

Zach Revene agreed. As assistant director of Plumas County’s Public Health Agency, he also serves as the county EOC’s logistics section chief.

“The outpouring of support from our community has been incredible,” Revene said last week as people gathered donations of food, jackets, sundries, blankets and more.

Chicken soup, socks and comfort

At the Hope Chest in East Quincy, owner Victoria Powell helped evacuees navigate through the boxes of warm wear and other goods carefully stacked in front of her popular thrift store.

Powell’s establishment is a gathering place for friends from all over town and music plays inside where it’s warm, while skis, toys and household goods beckon outside.

“God bless every one of these folks,” she said, watching as people browsed for something to wear among the free items.

At the Bargain Boutique downtown, a dedicated delegation of hospital auxiliary volunteers keeps the brightly lit store tidy with easy access to shoes, clothing and an array of house wares.

“We’ve seen a lot of evacuees needing jeans and shoes since they began arriving,” said one volunteer. “The community has been so great to us, bringing in their usual donations and even more. We really appreciate everything they do to support us, which helps us support these folks now. Anyone who has come in and let us know they were here from the fire, we’ve been glad to assist them.”

At Quincy Thrift & Company, owner Traci Turner reopened after she’d closed over Veterans’ Day weekend and helped several families a day at her Main Street store where vintage meets modern and an extra sign, handmade, sat out front inviting evacuees inside.

The Quincy Seventh-day Adventist Church was one of two designated locations within Plumas County that accepted donations of everyday items like paper towels, toothpaste, shampoo and much more during the Camp Fire evacuation assistance effort. Even some local youngsters worked to unload cars and cartons for the effort including, from left, sisters Taylor (11), Brooke (10) and Alexis McKinney (9), and their friends Samuel (7) and Joshua Ward (5).

Turner received some welcome help handling the demand to provide free clothing and other items to the Camp Fire evacuees.

Her mom, Mary Turner, bustled through the store keeping things neat and attractive and her mother-in-law, Louise Young, brought in home-cooked chicken soup to nourish the visitors. They went through two pots of soup that first Sunday alone.

“People are so wonderful here,” Turner said as a retired fellow came in to donate some brand new men’s shoes in size 11.

She thanked him and turned to help a young family find knitted hats and sweaters after they walked in saying they were not prepared for the cold weather. Their little girl slipped a pink coat over her T-shirt and smiled.

“I pulled stock out of my winter storage and people steadily brought in extra donations after I posted the need on my Facebook page,” Turner added. “Children’s coats were going quite fast. I’m pretty good on many items right now except for coats, jackets and blankets. We did need brand new undergarments, including new socks, too, thank you everyone.”

Generosity created abundance

The Quincy donations effort and others like it all over the North State region were so successful right away that Butte County issued a request to shift away from physical donations of clothing and supplies.

According to Plumas County EOC staff, Butte’s donation coordinator confirmed that shelters in that area were overwhelmed with the outpouring of community support from their neighboring counties in the North State. Therefore, Butte County requested last week that no more physical donations be privately delivered to the shelter locations.

Elder Justin Lee of Lake Orion, Michigan, left, and Elder Ryker Capson from Blackfoot, Idaho helped the Quincy Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter-day Saints gather donations to aid Camp Fire evacuees. The Elders are serving through the Nevada-Reno Mission.

“They prefer that cash donations, which provide more flexibility to evacuees, be directed to the nonprofit North Valley Community Foundation (www.nvcf.org),” Plumas County EOC’s Revene advised.

He added that all donations already dropped off either the Seventh-day Adventist Church or the Latter-day Saints Church in Quincy would be sorted and delivered to Butte County by the emergency response team.

“If people would still like to donate physical items,” Revene said, “There is only one site that will accept them in Butte County now.”

The House of Hope at 1297 Park Avenue, Chico, CA 95928 will accept deliveries of physical donations and put them to very good use in the area as people transition through the disaster and begin to rebuild and recover.

Donations stay local and direct

North Valley Community Foundation, a 501 (c3) nonprofit, keeps financial donations local, providing gift cards and vouchers. Visit them online at www.nvcf.org.

House of Hope at 1297 Park Avenue, Chico, CA 95928 will accept deliveries of physical donations and use them to serve Camp Fire evacuees as they transition through the disaster.