Dear Friends,
As the disastrous Sonoma County fires continue to rage and expand, it’s clear that their impact will extend far into the future. We are in conversation with the county, through Supervisor Lynda Hopkins, and are committed to providing support to those effected for as long as it is needed.
Beginning early on Monday our staff, volunteers and local community began showing up, ready and eager to help. We quickly reorganized our Sebastopol kitchen to serve 500 people a day rather than 100 a week, and began connecting with shelters in the area to determine their needs. Ceres has been a constant hive of activity and we are all truly thankful to be a hub for the response, and deeply moved by the outpouring of support.
At this time, we know that all of our staff and board are safe, and we believe the same is true for our volunteers. Sadly, we also know that we have staff, board members, volunteers and clients who have lost their homes and all their possessions.
We are in close daily contact with West County shelters and Western Santa Rosa shelters, as well as our county supervisor, and are providing breakfast and dinner for the evacuees at 4-5 shelters per day this week.
While we don’t know yet exactly what our role will be, we are committed to working with the county to provide meal support for the longer term for those effected by the fires. And while we have all the food and volunteer resources we need this week, in the coming weeks we will need the continued support of the community.
Our plan is to begin cooking for our Healing Meal program clients next week, while continuing to provide nourishing meals to those displaced by the fires.
Our Santa Rosa kitchen and café are closed at this time due to the proximity of the fire, and we will be cooking for all Sonoma County clients from Sebastopol for the next week. We hope to re-open our Marin County kitchen next week as well.
Here’s how you can help:
- Volunteer. We expect that many of our regular Santa Rosa volunteers may not be able to return right away, so we encourage those who are interested to attend one of our upcoming Volunteer Orientations (link to calendar). The next dates are October 16 and 26. We welcome volunteers ages 14 and older, and have a variety of opportunities available, from preparing and delivering meals, to providing phone support for our clients and much more.
Current Ceres Santa Rosa volunteers, please check in with us to let us know if
you're available to volunteer. We'd also just like to hear from you so we know
you're okay.
- Donate. Our biggest need is for financial support so that we can continue to respond to both fire victims’ needs, and to our clients, who depend on our healing meals as they face serious health challenges like cancer.
- Donate food or supplies. We will have a long-term need for donations including produce, proteins, dry goods such as grains and pulses and more. Due to the size of our facility, we will need to receive these goods on a steady basis, rather than all at once. If you have bulk quantities of food to share with the community through Ceres, please let us know. We’re developing a resource list of farmers, grocers and food producers so that we can call on you in the coming weeks.
Please follow us on
Facebook
to receive regular updates, including up-to-date needs.
On behalf of all of us at Ceres, thank you for joining with us to nourish and support our neighbors with food, love and community as we face and come through this crisis.
In gratitude,
Cathryn Couch
Ceres Community Project
