LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Redbud Audubon has canceled its presentation for Thursday, Sept. 17, due to the Valley fire.

Please check the Redbud Audubon Web site and its Facebook page for information on the bird walk scheduled for 9 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 19, at Rodman Reserve.

KELSEYVILLE, Calif. – In response to the Valley Fire that erupted in Lake County on Saturday afternoon, American Red Cross local disaster workers have opened two shelters.

The shelters are located at Kelseyville High School at 5480 Main St. and Napa County Fairgrounds at 1435 N. Oak St. in Calistoga.

At the fairgrounds, the Red Cross has partnered with Petaluma Animal Services to care for the evacuated pets and animals.

There also a shelter operated by Lake County at the Clearlake Senior Center at 3245 Bowers Avenue in Clearlake.

On Saturday night, nearly 300 residents spent the night in the Red Cross shelters.
 
The shelters are providing immediate needs of those affected, including a safe place to stay, food (dinner, snacks), water, medicines and health services, cleaning supplies, emotional support and other support resources. Impacted residents are welcome to stop by during the day even if they choose to spend the night elsewhere.
 
“Firefighters are doing heroic work in trying to contain the fire and keep residents safe, and it’s our honor to support them in every way possible” said Jeff Baumgartner, executive director of the American Red Cross of the California Northwest. “We are working closely with the county officials to make sure all sheltering needs are met, and are prepared to scale up our support if needed.”
 
For updates on the Red Cross response, like them on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/RedCrossCalNW or follow the organization on Twitter, @RedCrossCalNW.
 
The Red Cross maintains a variety of resources including a cadre of trained volunteers and equipment that allows the organization to be ready to respond 24/7 to provide help to people affected by disasters. 

As droughts continue and fires spread, the Red Cross will continue to work within communities to provide the needed resources to help people respond and recover from wildfires – even after the smoke clears.
 
Be prepared – wildfire tips

Wildfires spread quickly, igniting brush, trees and homes.

The Red Cross urges residents to follow all evacuation orders from local enforcement and be prepared.

All families should have an emergency game plan for disasters large and small.

Some basic wildfire safety tips are:

– Be ready to leave at a moment’s notice.
– Listen to local radio and television stations for updated emergency information.
– Back cars into driveways or park in open spaces facing the direction of escape.
– Confine pets to one room so that you can find them if you need to evacuate quickly.
 
Become a volunteer

An average of 90 percent of Red Cross workers are local volunteers.

By empowering individuals to help their neighbors when they need it most, we strengthen each community and make it more resilient to disasters large and small.

The Red Cross has enough volunteers for this response at this time.

Meantime, if you want to be trained as a Red Cross disaster volunteer to respond to future disasters, sign up at www.redcross.org/volunteer .
 
Donate

A donation to Red Cross Disaster Relief can help provide shelter for someone who has had to leave their home and food and water for them to eat.

Help people affected by disasters like wildfires and countless other crises by making a gift to Red Cross Disaster Relief.

Your gift enables the Red Cross to prepare for, respond to and help people recover from disasters big and small.

To donate, people can visit www.redcross.org , call 1-800-RED CROSS (1-800-733-2767) or text REDCROSS to 90999 to make a $10 donation.
 
In-kind goods donations

We appreciate the good intentions of people who want to donate items, but financial donations are the quickest and best way to get help to the people who need it most.

The Red Cross isn’t equipped to handle a large influx of donations such as household items, clothing or food that may or may not be useful to victims as it takes time and money to store, sort and distribute donated items.

If community members still like to donate goods, Red Cross recommends they contact other organizations in their community and inquire if they are accepting donations.

UPPER LAKE, Calif. – The Habematolel Pomo of Upper Lake's Running Creek Casino is offering help for evacuees from the Valley fire.

“We are deeply saddened by the impact the south county fires are having on its victims in our community,” said Tribal Chair Sherry Treppa.

Treppa said Running Creek Casino will be providing $15 credit per person toward any meal at any casino venue for victims of the fire.

An identification from an evacuated area will be required.

LAKEPORT, Calif. – The Lake County chapter of the Green Party will hold its next meeting on Sunday, sept. 20.

The group will meet from 4 o 7 p.m. in the meeting room of Round Table Pizza, 821 11th St. in Lakeport.

Sarah Ryan will present information on the lake water monitoring program.

Petitions for the SB277 referendum also will be available for signing. 

These petitions are trying to restore religious and personal exemptions to the mandatory vaccine law call SB277 sponsored by Dr. Pan who is currently the subject of a recall campaign.  

Voter registration forms will be available for those interested in registering to vote. National Voter Registration Day is Sept. 22; ask your local library to participate and register voters. 

Call 707-263-3391 for addition information, visit www.cagreens.org or www.facebook.com/lakecountygreenparty .

KELSEYVILLE, Calif. – The 14th annual Saw Shop Gallery Bistro’s benefit dinner for Habitat for Humanity Lake County will be held on Monday, Nov. 2.

The event will begin at 6 p.m. at the Saw Shop Gallery Bistro, 3825 Main St. in Kelseyville.

The funds received will go toward improving the living conditions of Lake County military veterans by providing health, safety and accessibility-related home upgrades. 

This is the main funding event for Habitat for Humanity Lake County.  

The dinner will be a multi-course sitdown meal. All costs of the dinner are donated to Habitat for Humanity including the food, wine, and the staff hours of the Saw Shop Gallery Bistro.  

Tickets are $100 each and table sponsorships for $800 are available.

Event sponsorship awards the sponsor with a table for eight guests in addition to recognition in Habitat’s biannual newsletter and social media forums.

Please call the Saw Shop Bistro at 707-278-0129 for reservations.

For further information, or to be an event sponsor, call the Habitat for Humanity office at 707-994-1100.

MIDDLETOWN, Calif. – Middletown Senior Center staff recognized their many volunteers at a thank-you brunch recently.  

Executive Director Lori Tourville welcomed the volunteers and proudly gave out the statistics for the 2014-2015 year: 5,585 hours worked, over 11,000 miles driven for Meals on Wheels and 18,857 meals served. 

Tourville also thanked Hardester’s Market for their ongoing donations and Tina Stewart of Middletown Florists & Gifts for her donation of a beautiful arrangement which was raffled off at the brunch.

Volunteers include Meals on Wheels drivers, greeters, lunch servers, thrift shop and library coordinators, office help and board members.

The Meals on Wheels Program delivers balanced nourishing meals each day to home-bound seniors (60+ years.)  Middletown delivers more than 800 meals per month to housebound seniors in Hidden Valley, Middletown and Cobb, and the need continues to grow.  

Although partial funding comes from the Area Agency on Aging and the Redbud Healthcare District, subsidization from the community in the amount of about $28,000 per year is required to fully fund this expanding need. And that’s why the Senior Center has fundraisers year-round.

Middletown Senior Center is located at 21256 Washington St. It is open from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m., Monday through Friday.

For more information about center activities and menus, call 707-987-3113, visit the center’s Web site, www.middletownseniorcenter.org , or check out its Facebook page.