OROVILLE, Calif. — Susie Robbins and Mike Johnson once lived in Berry Creek, happily married. But now they have lost their home in the North Complex fires.
“We actually had a little bit of stuff packed up in our vehicle ready to go but we were trying to wait it out. Good thing we left when we did,” said Johnson.
Planning to one day rebuild their house from the ground up, Thursday the couple found themselves at Oroville Rescue Mission looking for items to help them make it through.
“They are giving us food and some clothes and I got coffee cups. Just things we need,” Robbins said.
Cases of water, canned goods, and toiletries are available for fire victims, but because of the pandemic, the rescue mission is asking anyone looking to donate to give through money or gift cards.
“Through that, we will go purchase the stuff at local merchants ourselves and then bring it into the thrift stores and distribute through there,” said Annie Terry, a spokesperson for the Oroville Rescue Mission.
The Red Cross is also accepting monetary donations which they said will go towards covering the cost of countless hotel rooms.
“We have been able to do the hoteling between ourselves and our state and county partners, to get people in those hotels, and that does cost extra money. The thing is, it’s the safe way to go right now," Justin Kern, a spokesman for the American Red Cross said.
Due to the restriction that social distancing brings, the Red Cross isn’t opening up any overnight evacuation centers, as they normally would do during a natural disaster.
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