Rotary Community Heroes of Hope
Introducing "Rotary Community Heroes of Hope" - a podcast dedicated to showcasing the profound impact of Rotary in District 5330 and beyond. Join us as we explore the remarkable stories of rotary heroes and initiatives that are transforming communities and creating hope around the world.
Rotary Community Heroes of Hope
Heroes of Hope: Rotary's United Response to Southern California's Devastating Fires
Discover the heroic efforts of Rotarians in Southern California as they tackle the challenges posed by the devastating Lion and Airport fires. Join us, Jamie Zinn and Judy Zolfakar, along with our community service director, Chuck Weisbart, as we promise to reveal how Rotary District 5330 mobilized swiftly to provide rooms for evacuees and essential supplies to firefighters. You'll learn about the power of community collaboration and the unwavering service-minded spirit of Rotarians who have made remarkable impacts during this crisis. With insights into their partnerships with organizations like United Way and local fire departments, we highlight the extraordinary capability of Rotary to act as a central hub in times of need.
Beyond emergency response, we emphasize the importance of preparation in facing natural disasters. From routine checks on smoke alarms to having evacuation plans for pets, we stress the critical need for readiness. Our discussion covers safeguarding essential documents and the necessity of having proof of property ownership to regain access to evacuated areas. Through this episode of Heroes of Hope, we aim to inspire our community to strengthen their emergency plans while showcasing Rotary's pivotal role in fostering a network of support and action. Join us in celebrating the power of collective efforts and the touching stories of resilience and unity.
Welcome to the Rotary Heroes of Hope podcast. I'm your host, Judy Zolfakar, proudly serving as the current District Governor for Rotary District 5330. Co-hosting with me is Jamie Zinn, our esteemed immediate past District Governor. Heroes of Hope brings to light the remarkable stories of impact from Rotarians within our district. Our episodes shine a spotlight on transformative community projects taking root in our region and extend their reach to initiatives making waves on a global scale. Each story is a testament to the profound influence Rotarians exert on the lives of individuals and communities we are committed to serving. Join us in this inspiring journey. Dive deeper into the world of Rotary with us and witness firsthand the extraordinary ways in which Rotary touches lives and reshapes our world. Welcome to the Rotary Heroes of Hope podcast, where hope takes center stage and the heroes are the Rotarians among us, turning vision into action.
Speaker 2:How are you today, judy, I'm doing great Good. It is a wonderful day down here in the Southern California area, wouldn't you agree A little cooler weather?
Speaker 1:A little cooler weather and thank goodness for it, considering what our topic is today is about some of the fires that we've had down here which have literally been burning the house down in a very sad way In California. I think you know I come from Missouri, so there's four seasons in Missouri and what I hear in California there think you know I come from Missouri, so there's four seasons in Missouri and what I hear in California there's basically two seasons fire season and what's the other one? Flood.
Speaker 2:Flood.
Speaker 1:Fire, no fire and earthquake. That's what it is Fire and earthquake.
Speaker 2:More fire and flood, though, now than fire and earthquake, that's true, but we have a wonderful guest.
Speaker 1:Our community service director, chuck Weisbart, is here. We kind of joke around a little bit, but it's a very serious thing that we encounter, especially here in Southern California, and we're going to talk a bit about the line fire and the airport fire that we're still working with. Those fires are still burning I don't think they're 100% contained and kind of how Rotary reacts to those and what we did. So, chuck, let me turn it over to you All right.
Speaker 3:Well, the minute the fires broke out and we started communicating because the first fire that broke out was the Lion Fire and I reached out to all the clubs up on the mountain uh, arrowhead and big bear and, um, no one was immediately affected. But um, I started to get the minute the announcement went out that I was going to be working on the fire. I had no less than a dozen members in rotary in the rest of the district that said we have rooms. If somebody has to be evacuated, we've got a place for them to go. We've got two bedrooms, we've got three bedrooms. But the communication that I got as a result of this was the most heartwarming thing in the world and luckily we didn't need to utilize it. But the offers were absolutely unbelievable. There was a call out for hygiene, personal hygiene items for the firefighters, because the fires were so big and so overwhelming that the people on the front line needed personal hygiene items more of them than they had anticipated. So a call went out to the entire district and we were able to deliver and as of yesterday, we were still delivering the amount of participation from clubs we had. A club, one of the Temecula Morning Club, went ahead and they said, okay, what can we do? I told them what was needed. They went on.
Speaker 3:Amazon ordered a huge amount of product. Two days later it had been received and the morning of the third day it was being delivered to the United Way, the Arrowhead United Way in San Bernardino, so that it could be dispersed at the line fire. We put out an APB up here. Our local Rotarians up on this mountain had an overwhelming amount of product that they got to us so that we could get it to the United Way, so the United Way could disperse it. And the beauty, one of the beauties of the way things worked with this was a person who is very involved with United Way, runs a lot of it in the San Bernardino area, is actually a member of one of our clubs up on the mountain, the other mountain, and, uh, one of the fire chiefs is in that same club. So luckily, um Tanya was able to literally physically get all that product right up to the fire lines in fire camp so that it could be dispersed immediately. And, um, yesterday a huge, a huge load went out.
Speaker 1:Uh, we had the um Indioio Noon Club has a member who is very involved with Southwest Church again working with other organizations in the district, and I think that what you're saying here really ties in something that we don't necessarily always talk about in Rotary, but it is just an intrinsic value of what we have, because Rotarians have a heart of service, their service above self. Those individuals aren't just Rotarians, they are also, like you said. You know they're part of United Way, or they're a firefighter, or they're a police chief or they're a business person. There are so many resources in our own club that we can have such an immediate, quick and amazing impact on our community. It really brings a tremendous amount of value to our community when we, as Rotarians, mobilize.
Speaker 2:Absolutely, and I think you know like up on the Hill they have a group that is also dealing with the fire and, chuck, you may have been working with Rudy Westerfeld's group to again. Now we've got our group getting it to that group and that group is mobilizing out. Luckily they did not have to deal with getting places for people that were displaced or getting food to them and a lot of things that we experienced with Snowmageddon.
Speaker 1:when that happened Right exactly, but we have those connections and it just keeps rolling forward that, if you you know there is an emergency, that there is this resource in Rotary, in that we can communicate quickly between Rotarians and that Rotarians have resources and we can mobilize quickly.
Speaker 3:No, and one of the beauties is the collaboration with other organizations. That member of the Indio Noon Club, I don't know, went ahead and ordered almost a thousand mini backpacks that were loaded with all the hygiene items that were requested by the fire guys Okay, the cooling towels, the body wipes, the deodorant, all of the small items that these people need on the front line, and they were in kits. And Wednesday morning I went to Southwest Church and Wednesday morning I went to Southwest Church. They got a bunch of members at Southwest Church to pack it all up and get it ready. I went down Wednesday morning and picked it up and Thursday morning I delivered it to San Bernardino and they were just blown away because there was no sorting, no work that had to be done with the other organization. They were in kits, ready to go and hand out right on the fire line.
Speaker 3:So it's that mobilization of other organizations and working with other organizations, because all of us Rotarians are so sensitive to the other organizations where we live and because we work with them. They are benefactors of many of the things Rotary does and they are also members of our clubs. And this is the most beautiful thing in the world because it turns a small project into a huge machine that can operate and help everybody instantly, and it was wonderful to see and be part of be part of.
Speaker 2:So where are we at now? I know that as of this morning actually, I had a conversation with Bass District Governor Rudy and I understand that the fire lines are mobilized up there. No one's home is at threat. It is under further containment. Where are we at with the line fire and the airport fires? What assistance?
Speaker 3:do they need there's three big fires that actually kind of impact us, because the bridge fire is also a part of san bernardino county, all right. So the bridge fire, okay, is at 59 containment, all right, and that started on 98. The line fire is at 53 containment as of this morning, which basically means it's controlled. They can keep it away from any buildings, any people. All right. And the airport fire, as of this morning, is finally over 50%. It's 51% contained. And that is so very important because at this point in time to take it home from 51% to a hundred percent is a lot easier because they know what they're dealing with.
Speaker 3:The call out in Lake Elsinore area. What they wanted was they wanted gift cards for Walmart to hand out to kids, to parents and families that lost their homes or were relocated and did not have anything for the kids to go back to school in. All right, so that was put together and again Rotary came to the rise. The president of the Lake Elsinore Club, involved also with somebody who's in the Board of Education of Lake Elsinore, mobilized and got all that running and rolling and the information went out to everybody in the district that they'd like to make a contribution. This is exactly how to do it and through Rotary's District 5330 website, there was an opportunity for people to contribute to the issue.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and that donation button is still up just in case anyone wants to donate. We'll probably leave it up for a little bit, until the fires are completely out, and any funds that come from that would be available for any fires that we have in 2024. That was how that was set up, was it not?
Speaker 2:Yes, that is correct, and unless you know you, dg Judy here, would want to take it down. We'll leave it up.
Speaker 1:Well, yeah, I think we definitely want to leave it up as we go through the fire season because unfortunately, like I said, it's truly a season and with that, Chuck, I kind of want to switch a little bit, and this kind of came out in the communications that we were sending out to our Rotarians, and that is a reminder, for how do you prepare for not just a fire but in an emergency? How should each and every one of us be prepared for an emergency so that it isn't such a strain on our family or on our community? If we're prepared individually, it makes it easier for everyone. Can you talk a little bit about that?
Speaker 3:Yes, because I lived through the 2013 and 2018 fire in Idlewild. We're so sensitive to it and everybody should have a go box at their house so that they don't have to start assembling paperwork. They have everything in one place. So they grab the go box, put it in their car and they're on their way, all right. The other thing that is very important is to video inside and outside your home, every single room. If you have furniture that has that has, like expensive dishes, et cetera, open the cupboard doors. Video that.
Speaker 3:Make sure, because when the insurance company you have to settle with an insurance company they're going to say do you have receipts, all right, or do you have proof that you actually had this in your home? And a video tells it all? Send the video to somebody else in your family. Videos to someone else in your family. Keep a copy in your phone. Keep a copy in your computer. Make sure that you have copies so that when you need proof, it's right there, because if you want the insurance companies to act quickly, you have to be able to act quickly. You can't sit and think about it for six weeks.
Speaker 3:All right, because you need to be rehomed, you need to have things done. You need a place to live and the other thing is, because we're in Southern California, everybody should have in their insurance what happens in a case of a disaster. Is there money in the insurance for you to be temporarily housed? And that's something that's a huge thing, especially with the airport fire where there were a lot of homes lost, all right. So you've got to have everything ready to go, because when this happens, when you have an emergency like this, your brain is like scrambled eggs. You can't figure out what it is.
Speaker 3:First that you need to have. That go box should have a copy of the will and first. Will and testament, all your insurance papers, all your legal papers like passports, copies of pink slips, all that information. That should all be in the go box and it should be ready to go at any time. With any emergency we have a big earthquake, you can grab the go box and should be ready to go at any time with any emergency we have a big earthquake, you can grab that go box and leave.
Speaker 1:Putting together the documents is one thing, so that's a go. That goes in the go box, definitely, but we also should have a box together that has at least three days of water and dry foods and so on and so forth. Can we talk a little bit about that?
Speaker 3:Yeah, absolutely, it should be set up and once a year, you should change it. Okay, you should. You should renew it. Take out what you, what you've got in that ready to go kit of food and beverages. Take it out and use it and replenish it with new, because everything's going to have an expiration date. You don't want to be in that situation to have stuff in a box that expired in 2020, all right, because you thought about it then. So it needs to be renewed on an annual basis.
Speaker 3:At the same time and a lot of people need to do this at the same time you should put it in your calendars to change the batteries and all your fire alarms in the house and all your smoke alarms that you have in the house and all your smoke alarms that you have in the house. So that day of the year is when you replenish the food and beverage for evacuation if you need it. It's not even evacuation, but let's say you have a massive disaster and trucks can't get to where you live. They can't deliver food. Look what happened up at Lake Arrowhead with the big grocery store up there that caved in. You've got to be ready for that at all times and it's important to have those supplies, all of your medicine. All of your medicine should also be in your go box. If you have to evacuate or you have a problem, you need to make sure you have at least 30 days of all the medications you need ready to go at all times.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and you know, to add to that, chuck, being a victim of fires personally, one of the things that we would highly recommend is that you know you talk about having all your important papers. You know, scan in all those papers and make sure that your computer is backed up to an offsite place is backed up to an offsite place, or make sure that you back it up on, you know, a flash drive and keep that with you at all times so that you will have all of these documents also there. And the other thing I think people forget about is when you have a fire, you could potentially lose electricity.
Speaker 2:Keep your car filled with gas. Don't let it get down to an eighth of a tank, because when we were up on the hill and we were trying to get off and you've got bumper to bumper traffic that's going to take you, you know, two or three hours to get down. You need to make sure you got enough gas in your car. And to the other side of that, if you're down the hill and you have a fire, or wherever you might be, you may not be able to get back home. So make sure in the trunk of your car you've got some water, you've got a blanket, you've got some good hiking shoes or whatever, so that if you are not able to get back up to your home, you at least have some supplies. Or if you can get to a point and you can walk into your home, you have the things that you need to do. So just a few other things I'd throw out there.
Speaker 1:There's a website that you can go to. It's cdphcagov, and there's a prepare an emergency supply kit. It's a really quick like checklist of things that you should have Again. That's C as in Charles, D as in David, P as in Paul, H as in Henrycagov. So just one of those things that I want to throw out there so people can use it as a resource.
Speaker 3:The other thing you need to always have is a plan B In case of an emergency. Where are you going to go? Do you have somebody that you know that is in another area that you can contact in advance and say, if we had an emergency, could we camp out at your house for a couple of days? All right, your plan B needs to be written down because and it needs to be in your phone it needs to be everywhere. Another thing that's very important is a lot of us have photography and pictures, all right, that are hanging in our house, or artwork is hanging in our house. Make sure that you scan that, if you can, into your phone, because if it's burnt up in a fire, at least it can be recreated.
Speaker 1:And one final thing to add to that, Chuck, is we all well, many of us have pets, and some of us have some very large pets that need to be trailered to a location Having a plan? Of how are the pets going to be evacuated? Because that often is one of the biggest concerns as you come out of there and when you're putting your emergency kit together, not just having supplies for yourself but also for your pets.
Speaker 3:Absolutely, yes, without a doubt. And again, that plan B. Have it written down, because when you are in an emergency, your brain becomes scrambled eggs. You can't think as straight as you need to Write your plan B down and update it when you need to on an ongoing basis, all right. Have a copy of it in your glove compartment as well. It cannot hurt. You never know when you're going to need it.
Speaker 3:The other thing that is really important is make sure that in the important documents that you have, when they let you back into a fire area that has been evacuated completely, you need to have proof that you own a piece of property there. They won't let you back in if you go ahead and just show driver's license. You've got to have a utility bill some type to prove that you are a property owner to let you back in, because they are responsible for the security if homes are broken into and it has happened in the past where homes are broken into after a fire or when everybody's evacuated All right and law enforcement is spread real thin. Our fire guys are spread real thin. They can't watch every single property, so make sure you have that information with you.
Speaker 1:Awesome. Well, thanks again, chuck, for jumping in and taking the lead on answering the questions and taking care of those that had requests and offers of help for the recent fires, and we appreciate all the effort and work that you were doing on that particular initiative.
Speaker 3:It's a pleasure and we are in fire season up till about Christmas up here in Southern California. So we have to remember this can happen again overnight, any day. So we need to make sure that we are diligent and vigilant and we continue to keep all the things we need ready to go at any time. It's just part of being in Southern California.
Speaker 1:Well, and you can't forget about the earthquakes, because we've had a flurry of little shakes here and there recently and we are due. I hate to say that, but it's kind of one of those things. We haven't had a big one in a while. So, people, please be prepared. We all need to be prepared so that we can help each other in that time of need, absolutely.
Speaker 3:Absolutely Well. Thank you, guys. You know what it takes a village it really does and Rotary is the biggest village there is and working with each other and working with organizations that all of us belong to. In addition to Rot, rotary is what makes things happen overnight, and they do happen overnight.
Speaker 2:Absolutely, and thank you. Thank you, chuck, have a great day.
Speaker 1:So that wraps up this episode of Heroes of Hope. We are so happy that we have an audience out there listening. We want you to subscribe, share and tell your friends about the Rotary community Heroes of Hope, because that's how we get the word out about the impact we're having in.