The Throwing Starfish Foundation was lucky enough to receive another grant from North Valley Community Foundation to continue our work directly assisting victims of the Camp Fire. Our goal is to always try to find tangible ways to assist the survivors we work with. Below is a breakdown of how our $25,000 NVCF Grant was distributed. We have excluded the names of the survivors we helped, for their privacy. Please feel free to contact us at info@throwingstarfish.org for more details.
$2498.91 for 100 fans, 10 battery-operated fans + batteries, $1164.35 for 4 window AC units & 13 ice chests, $173.18 for two huge ice chests, $2163.38 for 50 ice chests, $565.44 for 3 swamp coolers
We have found that there is still a great need among the survivors who are living a bit off the grid. Many survivors are in old RV’s, some are even still camping. We are in contact with helpers on the ground and are constantly evaluating needs. Summer is coming up and heat is going to be a huge issue for survivors in RV’s without A/C. We purchased 100 oscillating table fans because they move the air around and are compact enough for the small space of an RV. We purchased battery-operated fans (and batteries) for the folks that may not have access to electricity during the heat. We also gave out AC units and swamp coolers to survivors with medical issues and/or small children. In speaking with survivors in these situations we’ve discovered that they are in great need of ice chests to keep their food cold. A lot of the RVs have malfunctioning ice chests or are simply too small to hold enough food for the amount of people that are living in the RV. An ice chest allows survivors to keep their food cold and fresh. We purchased a total of 65 ice chests for survivors living in RVs and in tents.
$600 in Propane Credit / $550 toward Campaign Propane
Jocelyn Cronin is a helper who has been running Campaign Propane, getting propane to survivors in different areas for months. When she is not able to be in the area she still helps by paying for propane via her Paypal account or credit accounts that we have set up at a couple stores in Butte. We put $600 on an account that can be used towards propane for survivors. This credit should fill between 40-50 tanks of propane for survivors. We also sent $550 to Campaign Propane so they can directly assist survivors.
$300 to replace flooring in RV
A survivor lives in Woodson Bridge RV Park. She has had to pull up the flooring in her RV because there is black mold from all the moisture. We sent funds to get her new flooring materials for her RV.
$1510.09 for 5 couches
Alyssa Nolan-Cain is building tiny homes in Oroville, CA for Camp Fire survivors.
We purchased 5 couches for her five tiny homes in progress.
$2365.40 for extra items to be included in Kitchen Kits
Our charity recently organized a project that resulted in the assembly of 47 Kitchen Kits for Camp Fire survivors. The kits include these high quality products: Laundry basket, 13 cooking utensils, tongs, small grater, ice cream scoop, whisk, peeler, can opener, large grater, 13 measuring spoons, garlic press, cutting boards, and a measuring cup. We wanted to fill out these kits a bit more, so we added a dish rack, bowls, and oven mitts/hot pads to each kit.
$787.33 in Amazon Wishlist Items
Jessi lost her family home in the fire. She recently got into an apartment, which means her two girls can come stay with her again for the first time since the fire 6 months ago. We purchased several items off of her Amazon Wishlist to help her get settled into her new home.
$1200.00 in taxes on new mobile home
Monique and her husband were able to purchase a new mobile home, giving them a permanent home following the fire. However, with the purchase came a tax bill that they were not expecting. In order to fully get the home transferred into their name they had to pay an additional $1200 in taxes. If they were not able to do this the home would not transfer into their name. The mobile home park where they are staying only allows owners to occupy homes on the property, therefore these survivors would be homeless once again. We sent a check to Monique so that she could pay the fees she owes and keep her new home.
$2000.00 in Relocation Assistance
A family had been staying in Round Mountain until they were forced to leave. They began their journey to Ohio to a family member’s property, where they can park their RV. They have a rooster, three dogs, a cat, and a bird. It was going to take them a week to drive to Ohio, with regular stops for food, gas, and sleeping at RV parks along the way. We provided them with the funds to make their trip, as well as some extra money to help them once they arrived.
$1543.80 in Real Estate Licensing Fees
Tania and her husband relocated to Nevada. They both immediately went about taking the classes and tests to get their Nevada real estate licenses. They needed a little help paying their final fees required to start working in Nevada.
$1016.21 in Amazon Wishlist
Beth and her husband relocated to Oregon and have had a very difficult time accessing assistance. They were finally able to secure a low-income apartment, but had nothing to put in it. They were sleeping on a mattress on the floor and using camping chairs as furniture. We purchased some items from their wishlist to get them set up in their new home.
$722.58 in Amazon Wishlist
Brianna, her husband, and their two young kids relocated to Oregon after the fires. They too are outside the area where most of the help is being offered, so are struggling to make ends meet. We purchased some items off of their wishlist to help them settle into their new home.
$1389.45 in Relocation Assistance
This family relocated to Colorado following the fires, hoping to find a new home and new opportunities. Unfortunately, things have not gone well. Their rent is very high, their daughter is having serious medical issues, and the father lost his job. The family has decided to relocate back to Paradise, where the father has secured a job with a clean up crew. They needed help with gas and food to get back home, so we sent them some funds to help with their trek.
$4455 in Rent Assistance
We identified 4 families all need help covering the costs of the rent on their new homes. We paid for one month’s rent for each family to allow them a little breathing room and to allocate their rent funds towards other necessities like food and gas.