Saturday, November 3, 2007
Friday, November 2, 2007
Clean up begins
Today a group met at Peg's house to begin to sift through the ashes. There were over 40 volunteers from the Village Church and Rancho Santa Fe Golf Club. Masks, gloves, goggles, long sleeved shirts and sturdy boots were the dress code for the day. Can you guess any of the masked workers?
Monday, October 29, 2007
Update on the Firefighter Relief Efforts
The following is from Elder Anne Feighner:
To the Awesome Cooks and All that Have Pitched in to Support the
Firefighters and National Guard,
The Village Church became a sanctuary for tired fire crews during the
fire as on Tuesday pastor Jack Baca was in the parking lot of the church
when a truck of firemen, who had been through the inferno the night
before, apologized for using our garden hose to get the soot off. He
said it was fine but wouldn't they like to come into the fellowship hall
and use the showers and sleep? Several members of our church then
proceeded to raid freezers, set up a breakfast lunch and dinner line and
open the fellow ship hall for sleeping. When the Ranch opened for
general residents on Thursday church members came to the church and
began a full scale operation of support.
After arriving home on Thursday afternoon, I went to the Village Church
and they said that they were feeding anywhere from 40-100 National
Guard, Police, Firemen and RSF Patrol each meal but mainly frozen
dinners, hamburgers and hot dogs. They had been on duty continuously
since the fire started and had bag lunches at best.
After conferring with members of the church and pastors, we decided that
home cooked meals by families of our church and local community would be
something that we could do to help a little and show our appreciation
for those who had done so much for us.
I got to my computer about midnight and sent out the first call for
chicken enchiladas for lunch on Friday and when I checked my email at
7 a m, I had 18 chicken enchiladas promised for noon! The response was
overwhelming and on Friday night we served hearty chili and more hot
meals for lunch on Saturday and capped the menu last night with favorite
Mexican Casserole dishes and Turkey Taco Stew. The firefighters and
guard loved every bite and one firefighter told me that he could tell
that the food was "cooked with love" and I told him he was exactly
right! The first 48 hours of their fire fighting they had no meal and
the fire chief said that they average fire fighter uses 6,000 calories
per day. Our awesome cooking helped take care of that deficit and by
last night the firefighters were joking that this was "The Five Pound
Fire." Kit Carson Park in Escondido was the main camp and we had many
trucks full of hungry firefighters coming late into the evening for our
home cooked meal.
The Firefighter Favorite list produced a store of treasured items.
Families with children came with bags of chap stick, icy hot patches,
individual Advil bottles and eye drops to pass out to our tired heroes.
The teens were there in great number and the kitchen is still
overflowing with beautiful home baked goods. The entry to the fellow
ship center is full of the notes from children to the firefighters
thanking them for their help. They are adorable and thank them for
saving our community and "hoping that they aren't too hurt." Every one
of our homes was in a mess when we returned but the wonderful thing was
that you all dropped what you were doing to pitch in.
Our numbers are dropping as the National Guard unit has pulled out, and
last night at 5:30 they moved 40 fire fighters from Palo Alto north.
However, our reputation as having the best food spread and we had a
steady stream of "customers" until 9:00 last night. When I left there
was only one small chafing dish of the stew waiting for the late
patrols and the one extra casserole went to a family who has lost their
home in our community. The numbers are changing but we expect to have at
least 25 from Palo Alto sleeping in the Fellowship Center for several
more days, watching hot spots and we will continue to feed local patrol
and RSF Firemen as needed. We are now covered for meals through Monday
night but if you would like to be on a stand by list for later possible
needs please reply.
Any food that is left after we close our food station next week will go
directly to the firefighters on the front line or families who have been
burned out.
Most of us will go back to sweeping soot and our normal lives but many
in our community have lost their homes or have heavy smoke damage. I
know you will to reach out to them as individuals, but please know that
this kind of loss is devastating in many ways and most people need
multiple interventions and long term support. We are equipped at the
Village Church to help those in need emotionally and spiritually and are
here to help. We have had many people offer homes, guest houses and
other resources and if you know someone in need of help, please call the
church office at 756-2441.
Blessings to all,
Anne
To the Awesome Cooks and All that Have Pitched in to Support the
Firefighters and National Guard,
The Village Church became a sanctuary for tired fire crews during the
fire as on Tuesday pastor Jack Baca was in the parking lot of the church
when a truck of firemen, who had been through the inferno the night
before, apologized for using our garden hose to get the soot off. He
said it was fine but wouldn't they like to come into the fellowship hall
and use the showers and sleep? Several members of our church then
proceeded to raid freezers, set up a breakfast lunch and dinner line and
open the fellow ship hall for sleeping. When the Ranch opened for
general residents on Thursday church members came to the church and
began a full scale operation of support.
After arriving home on Thursday afternoon, I went to the Village Church
and they said that they were feeding anywhere from 40-100 National
Guard, Police, Firemen and RSF Patrol each meal but mainly frozen
dinners, hamburgers and hot dogs. They had been on duty continuously
since the fire started and had bag lunches at best.
After conferring with members of the church and pastors, we decided that
home cooked meals by families of our church and local community would be
something that we could do to help a little and show our appreciation
for those who had done so much for us.
I got to my computer about midnight and sent out the first call for
chicken enchiladas for lunch on Friday and when I checked my email at
7 a m, I had 18 chicken enchiladas promised for noon! The response was
overwhelming and on Friday night we served hearty chili and more hot
meals for lunch on Saturday and capped the menu last night with favorite
Mexican Casserole dishes and Turkey Taco Stew. The firefighters and
guard loved every bite and one firefighter told me that he could tell
that the food was "cooked with love" and I told him he was exactly
right! The first 48 hours of their fire fighting they had no meal and
the fire chief said that they average fire fighter uses 6,000 calories
per day. Our awesome cooking helped take care of that deficit and by
last night the firefighters were joking that this was "The Five Pound
Fire." Kit Carson Park in Escondido was the main camp and we had many
trucks full of hungry firefighters coming late into the evening for our
home cooked meal.
The Firefighter Favorite list produced a store of treasured items.
Families with children came with bags of chap stick, icy hot patches,
individual Advil bottles and eye drops to pass out to our tired heroes.
The teens were there in great number and the kitchen is still
overflowing with beautiful home baked goods. The entry to the fellow
ship center is full of the notes from children to the firefighters
thanking them for their help. They are adorable and thank them for
saving our community and "hoping that they aren't too hurt." Every one
of our homes was in a mess when we returned but the wonderful thing was
that you all dropped what you were doing to pitch in.
Our numbers are dropping as the National Guard unit has pulled out, and
last night at 5:30 they moved 40 fire fighters from Palo Alto north.
However, our reputation as having the best food spread and we had a
steady stream of "customers" until 9:00 last night. When I left there
was only one small chafing dish of the stew waiting for the late
patrols and the one extra casserole went to a family who has lost their
home in our community. The numbers are changing but we expect to have at
least 25 from Palo Alto sleeping in the Fellowship Center for several
more days, watching hot spots and we will continue to feed local patrol
and RSF Firemen as needed. We are now covered for meals through Monday
night but if you would like to be on a stand by list for later possible
needs please reply.
Any food that is left after we close our food station next week will go
directly to the firefighters on the front line or families who have been
burned out.
Most of us will go back to sweeping soot and our normal lives but many
in our community have lost their homes or have heavy smoke damage. I
know you will to reach out to them as individuals, but please know that
this kind of loss is devastating in many ways and most people need
multiple interventions and long term support. We are equipped at the
Village Church to help those in need emotionally and spiritually and are
here to help. We have had many people offer homes, guest houses and
other resources and if you know someone in need of help, please call the
church office at 756-2441.
Blessings to all,
Anne
Sunday, October 28, 2007
Firefighter Relief Photos
Martha Dominguez has provided us with a number of photos of the Firefighter Relief project which the Village Church has been a part of this past week. These photos were taken by Helen Baca, Chelsea and Peter Dominguez and Courtney Myers and are part of an album at our church website at www.villagechurch.org/firefighterrelief .
Saturday, October 27, 2007
Turning Ashes into Beauty
Welcome to our blog! We will post updates and pictures related to the Village Church and portions of the community that were effected by the fire in Rancho Santa Fe. We are grateful that our church and the manse were not hurt in the fires; and, although 33 homes in the area were destroyed, no injuries were sustained. Our church has become the Resource Center for survivors in the Rancho Santa Fire District. If you would like to help survivors you may donate gift cards (Target, Visa, Home Depot) or financial donations to the Village Church Fire Fund. Please bring any donations to the church, 6225 Paseo Delicias, RSF 92067. Finanacial contributions may also be sent to The Village Church, Box 704, Rancho Santa Fe, CA 92067.
A special thank you to Don Kiel who helps send out all of our e-news and has set up our blog! Pictures and comments to follow.
Please continue to pray for the whole community of Rancho Santa Fe, Rancho Bernardo, Escondido, all of San Diego County, and other southern California areas affected by fire.
In Christ's Service.
A special thank you to Don Kiel who helps send out all of our e-news and has set up our blog! Pictures and comments to follow.
Please continue to pray for the whole community of Rancho Santa Fe, Rancho Bernardo, Escondido, all of San Diego County, and other southern California areas affected by fire.
In Christ's Service.
Rancho Santa Fe Fire Village Church
This blog will record some of the memories and photos of the Rancho Santa Fe fire of the week of October 21, 2007
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