Newport-Mesa gathering aid

June Casagrande

To the south, hundreds of homes have burned and a dozen people have

died as firefighters continue to battle blazes. To the north and

northeast, fires continue to ravage lives. Even though Newport-Mesa

residents are safe at home, the suffering of their neighbors has been

a call to action for locals.

“I couldn’t not do something,” said Debbie Alcaraz, an

administrative assistant in the Newport Beach city attorney’s office

who’s part of a two-woman team whose efforts to help fire victims

have already had a big effect.

Spearheaded by Alcaraz and fellow administrative assistant Cynthia

Poole, the office has been transformed into a high-volume drop-off

site for donations of clothes, toys, blankets, food, cash and gift

certificates for people rendered homeless and other victims of the

San Diego County blaze.

For San Bernardino-area fire victims, yet another local donation

drive will send off a truck this morning loaded with goods to help

the victims. The Assistance League of Newport-Mesa will collect goods

and monetary donations from 9:45 to 11 a.m. in their parking lot,

then drive the items to a Red Cross drop-off site serving the San

Bernardino fire victims.

Unlike the city, which has storage space for donated goods, the

Assistance League is relying on a truck on loan from Children’s

Hospital of Orange County to collect and deliver the goods.

“We’re trying to react as quickly as possible to do whatever we

can,” said Jean Loomis, league president who coordinated the drive

with the help of the Newport-Mesa Interfaith Council.

The City Hall drive will be ongoing, for a least a week or two, as

city staff volunteers continue to accept donations and coordinate

storage and delivery.

The drive started small and quickly mushroomed into a huge relief

effort. Alcaraz felt the fire’s wrath hit home when she learned that

a close friend’s San Bernardino-area home was right in the line of

fire.

Though her friend’s house was spared, Alcaraz felt compelled to

take action. With Poole, she began collecting donated goods from

co-workers, soon overfilling the cramped city attorney’s office.

City Manager Homer Bludau announced at Tuesday’s televised City

Council meeting that the pair had agreed to manage donations from the

public, and the response was quick and tremendous.

By late afternoon Monday, six truckloads of donations had already

been received at City Hall. The General Services Department has

opened its warehouses to store the clothes, beddings, food, toys and

housewares until Alcaraz and her husband head the effort to transport

the goods to San Diego County on Sunday.

They will be delivered to St. Vincent De Paul Village, a San Diego

Charity that is working with the Red Cross to aid fire victims.

“The response has been amazing,” Poole said.

* JUNE CASAGRANDE covers Newport Beach and John Wayne Airport. She

may be reached at (949) 574-4232 or by e-mail at

june.casagrande@latimes.com.