‘THIS IS OUR COMMUNITY’
The smallest thing Molly Cole and her 6-year-old son Max felt like they could do as massive fires swept through their community was cook.
“I was sitting on my couch feeling so helpless,” she said. “Our home is unaffected, but this is our community.”
The donations from the Cole family was one of many that poured into the evacuation center at Napa Valley College on Wednesday morning. As soon as a car with donations would pull up, a crowd of volunteers would take items including water, non-perishable food, blankets and pillows, gift cards, chargers and batteries.
Unfortunately, the Cole family’s homemade breakfast burritos wouldn’t go to the evacuees because of food regulations. But the meal would be set out for hungry volunteers.
The Cole family’s donation was just one of countless others that started pouring into evacuation centers.
Best friends John Payne, 33, and Alex Janssen, 35, pulled up in a large red truck carrying water, food and blankets.
“I felt helpless,” Payne said. “My boss offered for me to take the day and said he would reimburse me for anything we donated.”
Payne and Janssen live near Napa High — an area unaffected by the fire — and like many other people, they wanted to do something to help.
The donation was unloaded in a few minutes, leaving Payne with a feeling of accomplishment. But, he said, there must be something more he could do.
“It’s really still just not enough.”