Amber Kay and her mother, Linda Armstrong-Glanzer are at the Ono-Igo Community Church handing out donations like food and household items. They’re there for Zogg Fire survivors. Kay says at this point, the need is high.
“Right now we’re doing more kitchen, bathroom — a lot of people are currently moving into RVs, so anything you’d need to live in an RV,” she said. “Or even some of them — tents on their property even. So, we’re doing camping. Tools. We have a lot people out here that needed tools. So, just trying to get what people need.”
Survivors also need water. Kay says areas in the burn scar are still without power — meaning wells don’t work. Her family has been through fire before. They understand the trauma.
“My mom started this because in the Clover Fire in 2013 her house burned down,” she said. “And she was on the other side of this.
She — the community banded together to help her. So, as soon as this happened, my mom went like, the next day, was on trying to get — she actually got a big donation of $5,000 in gift cards from the Redding Rancheria. They also helped with some funeral costs of the people that were lost.”
Donations are helping Ashley Copeland Griggs and Glenn Rabb. The couple lived with family at the former Ono Store, which was destroyed by the fire.
“We found some shoes and some clothes and some food, and some toothbrush — like toiletries,” Griggs said. “That was really helpful. So, I’m glad it was there. Yeah, I appreciate that.
“Yeah, I only had one nasty pair of sneakers that I had on at the time,” Rabb added. “So, getting some new shoes — or — used shoes was really beneficial. You know, just anything right now — I mean it’s — we lost everything.
Rabb and Griggs not only lost their home and belongings in the fire, but also their livelihoods. Rabb is a glass blower, and he’s struggling to rebuild his career.
“You know, with the loss of my studio equipment, we’ve been reduced to well, pretty much nothing,” Rabb said. “We’re trying to pick up the pieces. TheGoFund Me just became available yesterday. But it’s not very much at this point. Honestly, you know, we’re kind of — so dealing with depression and grief/loss. It’s, uh, we don’t really know what to do right now”
In this fire season, it’s a sentiment shared by so many others in the North State.