Produce suppliers and retailers have been stepping up to help feed firefighters and victims of a series of wildfires that have ravaged Northern California’s wine country.
As of Oct. 16, more than 220,000 acres had burned as a result of fires that killed at least 40 people and destroyed or damaged more than 5,500 residences, leaving 100,000 people homeless.
Charitable organizations throughout the region were working overtime to collect and distribute food, and some retailers were adapting to emergency conditions even as they reached out to help the affected communities.
The Redwood Empire Food Bank in hard-hit Santa Rosa is serving as a distribution hub for several regional shelters and evacuation centers, said Kevin West, communications coordinator.
“Many of the people who are in need right now are people who have lost their jobs, not necessarily people who have lost their homes,” he said. “The number of people affected by this is huge.”
Some of the provisions came from Earl’s Organic Produce and its vendors.
Based on the San Francisco Wholesale Produce Market, the distributor packed an 18-wheeler with about 30 pallets of organic fruits and vegetables and delivered them to the Redwood Empire Food Bank Oct. 14, said Robert Lichtenburg, Earl’s director of purchasing.
“We asked a lot of our vendors if they would be willing to donate product,” he said. “Basically, everybody we asked said yes.”
Another load is scheduled to go out Oct. 19.
He estimated that the value of the donations will reach about $25,000 worth of product.
The project was a team effort, said Susan Simitz, marketing and social media manager, and involved order pullers, buyers, drivers, supervisors and warehouse and office employees.
More than a dozen markets that Earl’s serves were affected by the fires, including Oliver’s Markets, a group of four stores based in Santa Rosa.
One of the stores was in the danger zone and had to cut back hours and had a temporary power failure, said Mike Peterson, produce coordinator.
Other stores were busier than usual serving evacuees, who were picking up “comfort food or grab-and-go stuff,” like bagged salads, russet potatoes, grapes and lettuce, he said.
Oliver’s made a $10,000 donation to the North Bay Fire Relief Fund and will match up to $25,000 in customer donations.
Peterson’s father lost his home in the fire, as did a number of employees, while others were evacuated.
“We’ve been running a skeleton crew since the disaster started,” he said.
Vendors donating through Earl’s Organic Produce include:
- Chelan Fresh Marketing, Chelan, Wash.;
- Jacobs Farm/Del Cabo Inc., Pescadero, Calif.;
- Organicgirl LLC, Salinas, Calif.;
- Tutti Frutti Farms, Lompoc, Calif,;
- Lakeside Organic Gardens, Watsonville, Calif.;
- Braga Family Farms, Soledad, Calif.;
- Calo, Salinas;
- Bridges Produce Inc., Portland, Ore.;
- Doreva Produce Co. Inc., Livingston, Calif.;
- Corbin Cash, Atwater, Calif,;
- Johnston Family Farms, Winters, Calif.;
- Jayleaf LLC, Salinas; and
- Wholesum Family farms, Nogales, Ariz.
West Sacramento, Calif.-based Raley's also is pitching in, with disaster relief donations, and a collaboration with Salinas-based Taylor Farms to donate 2,000 meals to relief workers and fire victims.
Raley's established a micro site for donations for relief efforts at Raleysgive.com/fire-relief.