The Humboldt Area Foundation + Wild Rivers Community Foundation (HAF+WRCF) has distributed 12 grants totaling more than $120,00 to organizations and agencies supplying relief to residents impacted by the wildfires burning across the foundation’s service region of Del Norte, Humboldt, and Trinity counties in California, and Curry County in Southern Oregon.
The latest grant, approved by HAF+WRCF’s Community Response Team (CRT) on Aug. 28, will help the Del Norte Unified School District offer approximately 1,300 additional free bagged breakfast and lunch daily to children and adults at 11 locations in Fort Dick, Smith River, Klamath and Crescent City. It expands the district’s existing food service program that already serves students. For information, call Julie Clark with the school district’s nutritional services at 707-464-0246.
“We learned from city, county, Tribal, nonprofit and school leaders that there was an additional need to address food insecurity for families and community members struggling through evacuations and having lost so much food through the power outages,” said Amy Jester, HAF+WRCF’s Director of Policy, Advocacy and Civic Leadership. “The school district, in collaboration with the Yurok Tribe, Tolowa Dee-ni’ Nation, city and local nonprofits, developed a plan to fill in the gaps and make sure nobody goes without food.”
As wildfires continue to burn throughout the region, the CRT members check in daily with community partners, organizations, agencies, and Tribal entities to assess critical needs and determine what resources are needed and where. The team works diligently to connect community with existing resources, while also deploying its own resources to support efforts and address gaps for the most vulnerable.
Funding for these grants is provided through HAF+WRCF’s Disaster Response and Resilience Fund (DRRF), which was established in 2021 as a response to the 2020-21 fire season. Funded by contributions of individual donors and philanthropic partners, the DRRF has assisted groups that provide community support for those most vulnerable in response to fires, storm events, earthquakes, and other natural and human-made disasters.
The most recent round of DRRF grants include:
Emergency Supplies
- Big Rock Community Services District
- Brookings CORE Response
- Brookings Harbor Community Helpers
- City of Crescent City
- Del Norte Search and Rescue
- Pay It Forward Humboldt
- St. Timothy’s Episcopal Church
- True North Organizing Network
Food Security
- Del Norte and Adjacent Tribal Lands Community Food Council
- Del Norte Unified School District
- Rural Human Services
Emergency Fire Response, Safety, and Fuels Reduction
- Mid-Klamath Watershed Council
HAF+WRCF is accepting requests for support from non-profit organizations, public benefit organizations (including churches, educational organizations/schools, hospitals, government units, and tribal governments), groups working with a qualified fiscal sponsor, and other groups working on charitable projects. Requests can be made to DRRF at hafoundation.org/apply or by contacting the foundation at 707-442-2993 to be connected to an HAF+WRCF Program Officer.
To contribute to the Disaster Response & Resilience Fund visit hafoundation.org/disasterfund. Learn more about donating by contacting HAF+WRCF’s Donor Services team at donorservices@hafoundation.org.