Camp Fire Relief Effort



  After 8½ weeks of providing disaster relief supplies, having served over 1,000 households affected by the Camp Fire, the Distribution Center at the Chico Church of Christ had it's final day of operation on January 16th, 2019. A huge thank you to Dale Linge, Mike Lewis and the Churches of Christ Disaster Relief Effort who unhesitatingly responded each time we requested more supplies and all together delivered five, 53’ long truckloads with a total value of $363,500. Thank you to the hundreds of individuals and congregations who responded with phone calls and letters expressing their love and compassion, prayers, financial support, and donations of goods to sustain the relief efforts. Thank you to the dozens of volunteers who helped staff the center for two full months totaling about 3,000 hours of donated time! We are so grateful to each one of you who came from far and near to help unload the trucks when they arrived or to help during the distribution hours. We’d like to especially mention the Mariposa Ave. church of Christ in Citrus Heights for all those who came on Tuesdays and Thursdays each week to help, to Mike Roman who was always ready and willing to make the 1.5 hour long trip from his home in Rough and Ready, CA with a stop at Lowe’s or Home Depot in Yuba City to clean them out of shovels and rakes and bring them to us when we were running low, and to Jim Toney from the Alta Mesa church of Christ who got us off on the right foot by sharing their disaster relief experiences from last summer’s Carr Fire. Of course, there are many others that could be mentioned, such as churches of Christ from Turlock, CA, the San Diego area and Wichita Falls, TX that each collected and delivered trailers full of jackets, sleeping bags, tents, backpacks, and blankets to bless those who were hurting.


  It is so wonderful to see God working through this ministry: strengthening the local congregation by encouraging it’s members to utilize their particular strengths and abilities for a common purpose, connecting different congregations together through this work of love, reaching out to the affected community to bring about healing and renewal in a difficult time and in the process bringing great blessings to the “giver” as we interacted with those that came our way. There are many other stories that could be told of God’s provision through this effort. He brought us just what we needed, when we needed it. But for now let it suffice to say, “God is good, all the time”!

    


In Him, Lyle Thompson, Elder, Chico Church of Christ                        










A special account has been set up to help fire victims

Checks may be sent to:

Chico Church of Christ

995 E. Lassen Ave.

Chico, CA 95973

Attn.: Paradise Fire Fund.


Or you can contribute through Venmo:

  @Chico-COFCFireRelief



On November 8th a fire broke out in Butte County that would come to be known as the deadliest and most destructive fire the state of California has ever seen. The Camp Fire burned 153,336 acres, destroyed 13,954 homes, displaced 52,000 people, and caused 86 fatalities.



PARADISE LOST: INSIDE CALIFORNIA'S CAMP FIRE

60 Minutes reveals what firefighters saw as the deadliest wildfire in California history destroyed the town of Paradise





Churches of Christ Disaster Relief Effort Inc. sent five truckloads of supplies to us to aid those affected by the Camp Fire. You can learn more about Churches of Christ Disaster Relief Effort Inc. below.

  • Churches of Christ Disaster Relief Effort Inc.

    circlefacebook   disasterreliefeffort.org

    The Churches of Christ Disaster Relief Effort immediately responds to any major disaster in the continental United States by sending truckloads of emergency food, water, cleaning, and other supplies to be distributed to all disaster victims in the disaster area through a local Church of Christ. We are a non-profit corporation, tax-exempt from state and federal income taxes under section 501(a) of the Internal Revenue Code as an organization described in section 501(c)(3). The organization has fifteen employees consisting of an office staff, a warehouse crew, and 5 men that travel across the country telling local congregations about the work of Churches of Christ Disaster Relief Effort. So most importantly, our unpaid volunteer workers, and volunteer truck drivers are the secret to the success of our organization.


    Churches of Christ Disaster Relief Effort's posts about responding to the Camp Fire









The LORD is close to the brokenhearted

and saves those who are crushed in spirit

Psalm 34:18





Our Camp Fire

Distribution Center

Update Log


CAMP FIRE UPDATE

January 6

Truck #5!

Finished with a fifth round of unloading and the distribution center is now restocked! Thank you to our volunteers and to Churches of Christ Disaster Relief Effort Inc. for all that you’ve given toward helping our community!

If you’ve been affected by the Camp Fire please come visit us. This is for you!

#buttestrong


CAMP FIRE UPDATE

December 27

Restocked and Ready for Action!

Our distribution center received a 4th truckload of supplies from Churches of Christ Disaster Relief Effort on December 22 and had help unloading from many friends and family members in town for Christmas. We reopened again on Thursday, December 27, after taking a break for Christmas, and are back to our regular schedule.

Come on down! 


CAMP FIRE UPDATE

december 2

Arrival of Truck #2!

On November 27 we decided to make the request for another truck from Churches of Christ Disaster Relief Effort Inc. due to the steady distribution of the supplies they had previously sent to us. Truck number 2 arrived on the evening of December 1st. Thank you CoCDRE, Buddy the truck driver and everyone who showed up to help unload it. About 40 of us got the 53' truck unloaded in about 1 hour! 


CAMP FIRE UPDATE

NOVEMBER 17TH

Ready for Distribution!!!

The disaster relief supplies have been delivered. If you have been impacted by the Camp Fire please come see how we can assist you.

Thank you to the Churches of Christ Disaster Relief Effort for providing this aid and to all of the volunteers who came from near and far to help unload the truck in just 1.5 hours!


CAMP FIRE UPDATE

NOVEMBER 15Th

The Time Is Here

Attention all helpers! Our disaster relief truck is expected to arrive in Chico Thursday night and we will be unloading it at 9:00 AM on Friday. We have had an amazing response from individuals and congregations from near and far expressing an interest in helping with this effort and have been overwhelmed by the outpouring of love and concern for those who have suffered such great loss through this disaster. We would love to have you join us Friday morning if you can. Please know that if everyone that has reached out to us comes we will have more manpower than is needed for the task. But also please know that this is not just about moving supplies from Point A to Point B, rather it is an opportunity to share an experience with fellow Christians that will strengthen our bond in Him. Also, immediately after the truck is unloaded there will be a training session for those who’d like to volunteer for the distribution phase.

If you are not able to be here this Friday, we will have more opportunities to serve as we begin distributing the supplies with 2 shifts per day, 5 days per week. Also, we fully expect to have more trucks coming later so there may be more opportunity to help in this way.

One last note: We have set up a special account for those who would like to donate financially to the victims of the Camp Fire. If interested, please make checks out to Chico Church of Christ and mail to:

995 E. Lassen Ave.

Chico, CA 95973

Camp Fire update

November 12th

We have been in contact with Churches of Christ Disaster Relief Effort Inc. and have requested one of their truckloads of supplies to aid those affected by the Camp Fire. Please bear with us and pray as we prepare to receive the truck and organize our efforts, as we want to run this as effectively as possible. Stay tuned! We will need many hands in the days to come and will schedule a volunteer training meeting soon. In the meantime please pray for the firefighters, for those in the community who are currently working hard to run our evacuation centers, and the precious people who have suffered such great loss through this disaster.