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.
$3000 to complete the build of a new food truck
Elizabeth Jernberg and her husband Jason, were set to open a BBQ food truck business just five days before the Camp Fire tore through Paradise and the surrounding communities. The fire destroyed their new food truck and insurance did not cover the entire cost of replacement. E&J has done a lot of fundraising since the fire and was only $3,000 away from paying for a new truck. We were happy to send that final payment in and get this family on the road to working and providing food for their community. They are in contact with another nonprofit which will be underwriting food costs so that E&J can feed their community for free one day a week after they are up and running.
$2430.11 for 50 Propane Tanks for Camp Fire Survivors
Jocelyn Cronin is a woman dedicated to delivering propane to Camp Fire Survivors. She is working with DeCarli Propane to get the tanks up to people in need. Cronin also brings empty tanks back down to DeCarli Propane, who has agreed to refill them for free. We sponsored the cost of 50 propane tanks that Cronin delivered up to Camp Fire Survivors in various areas. The weather is very cold and propane is a constant request we receive from survivors requesting assistance. We estimated at least 100 people were helped by this donation as most trailers Jocelyn visits have at least two people living in them, many are housing larger families.
$4730.61 to Replace Tools for Two Contractors
Tommy and Dan are both contractors who lost their homes and tools in the fire. We took them both to Lowe’s and got them set up with quite a few big ticket items so they can get back to work. The employees at Lowe’s knew both of these men and were excited to see them getting some help to get back on their feet. Tommy in particular is ingrained in this community and is well-known for his volunteer work as well as his efforts to pass on his construction knowledge to younger contractors. Dan is a young contractor who is also a caretaker for his mother in the area. Both men were excited about the idea of getting back to work and helping to rebuild their community.
$803.06 in Amazon Wishlist Items to set up a Mobile Office
Stephanie relocated to Washington State after the fires and needed a little help getting her home office set up so that she could continue doing her job. She works as a Payroll Manager and her employer replaced her laptop, but that was all. She created a wishlist and we got her set up with an entire office (even down to the post-its!). She was very excited to get up and working in a normal environment again.
$1080.25 in Amazon Wishlist Items for a New Trailer
Lisa has been staying in a motel since the fire and just recently got a trailer where she will be living for the foreseeable future. We had her set up an Amazon Wishlist with items to help make her trailer feel more like a home. Lisa has been through a lot and we are glad that we are able to provide a little comfort to her in this time of transition.
$522.71 in Assistance for Magalia residents
Lynn’s Magalia home sustained smoke damage as well as damage/theft by looters. She has been working with her community since day one to provide assistance in any way she can. She currently has several survivors staying in her home, and she also provides use of her shower and laundry for anyone in need. We worked with Lynn to create a wishlist for the survivors in her neighborhood. This included items for several seniors as well as individuals living in trailers with little to no heat. While Lynn has been out of town visiting her son her propane tank ran out - because it is being used by so many survivors at this time. I sent her $250 to buy another 100 gallon tank so that she can continue to provide shelter/heat/showers to her community.
$1020.40 in Wishlists for Magalia residents
Scott and Frank both lost their homes in the fire. Scott has 50% custody of his boys, so he wanted to get a bed set up in his temporary house for when they visit. He also cuts wood for neighbors and needed a saw. Frank was underinsured and bought a faulty RV with his insurance money. The heat was not working so we sent him a small heater and a sleeping bag. We also sent both men gift cards for necessities and tools. In an expenditure outside of the grant we sent Frank a framed picture of himself and his son - as he expressed to us that it was his greatest loss in the fire. He happened to have a blurry image of the framed image that he sent to us from his phone.
$2161.31 in Rent Assistance and Car Repairs
Brodie and his family lost their home in the fires. They made an unfortunate error with their insurance and it had lapsed just before the home was destroyed. Brodie’s wife also worked in Paradise, so their income has been cut in half by the fires. They had been unable to receive much help from other organizations and were feeling very discouraged by their situation. We provided the family money for Rent and Car Repairs as two of their vehicles were in need of help.
$1392.06 in Home Goods for Survivors at the Phoenix Boutique
The Phoenix Boutique is a free small boutique for Camp Fire Survivors sponsored by Throwing Starfish Foundation. We have a lot of high quality items that are absolutely free to all survivors who visit. We are seeing more and more survivors in need of home goods so we ordered 10 knife sets, 10 cutting board sets, 10 pots/pans sets, 10 silverware sets, and 8 sheets/blankets for distribution.
$1,471.12 in Wishlist Items and $489.08 in Rent Assistance
Joslyn is a Camp Fire survivor and a young mother with two small kids. She and her boyfriend have also taken in her two siblings following the fires. She set up a Wishlist for items which included car seats for the kids, clothes, home goods, food gift cards, and a mattress. We also provided $475 in rent assistance as well.
$893.72 to pay off the balance on a purchased mattress
Brenna and her family purchased a new mattress following the fire. There was a 90 days “same as cash” offer on the mattress and the family was coming up on the expiration of that deal. If they didn’t pay off the mattress by the expiration date they would begin paying excessive interest on the purchase, making their total final price nearly twice as much and the original purchase price. We paid off the balance of the mattress to alleviate them having to pay any interest on the purchase.
$1000 in financial assistance
Jennifer, her wife, and their son had relocated to Red Bluff following the fire. They regularly have to commute to Sacramento for doctor’s appointments because her wife is undergoing cancer treatments. We provided financial assistance to offset some of the costs that this family is having to deal with.
$1500 in rent and $500 in food/gas money for a single mom
Tami not only lost the house she was living in, but also her new job and new home as caretaker of Lake Concow Campground. She was moving in the morning of November 8th. She was packed, ready and awoken by fire. Rather than fleeing immediately, Tami and her daughter remained at the Dome Store in Concow administering aloe to burn victims and helping everywhere they could. They refused to leave because we had a family member trapped in the fire on Granite Ridge and they hoped to bring her off the mountain too. By the time they left, they fought fire all the way down the mountain. Her daughter Faith is a cancer survivor and has health and respiratory issues. She finally got into a more permanent housing situation and we have prepaid 3 months rent for her in this location. We’ve also provided her $500 in financial assistance for food and gas.
$1000 for rent and utilities for a family of 5
Chawne, her husband, mom, and two kids were all left homeless by the fire. They have to continue paying their mortgage on their burned down house, which has made finances tight. We sent them $1000 to help with rent, utilities, and other expenses.
$500 Gift Card for family of 3
Kimberly, her mom, and her daughter had just recently set up their dream home in Paradise. It was all destroyed in the fires. They are struggling financially so we provided a $500 gift card to help alleviate some of their costs.