Napa/Sonoma Fire Support

Many have asked how they can help fire relief efforts, Kassie Borreson and I have started this as a way for people to support our personal efforts to supply evacuees with necessities they need desperately.

You all know these fires have devastated our communities. My husband and I lost our beloved home in Glen Ellen, CA. Fires are threatening Kassie's family's homes. We know countless people affected. We are not out of the weeds yet, but due to the efforts of the fire departments containing the fires, we are optimistic that the worst is over and we will be able to start the long road to rebuilding soon. 

Go Fund Me has asked that we provide more information on who we are and what we are doing. Please read below:

Who are we? 

Xanthie Drankus: I live in San Francisco but have (had) a second, very loved home in Glen Ellen, CA which was destroyed in the wildfire on Monday. It was much more than a vacation home for us. We are very involved in the Glen Ellen and Sonoma communities. My husband, Scott Palkoski is a volunteer fire fighter for the Mayacamas Volunteer Fire Department and dropped everything to come back early from a business trip to go up and help the crews battle the fires. We have seen the devastation and are compelled to help.

Kassie Borreson: A Napa native, she grew up in Napa and is still very involved in the Napa community and has deep roots there. Her parents, sister, brother and their families, along with dozens of extended family members and a multitude of friends are direcly in the path of the fire. Some have already lost homes. When this disaster started, there was so much miss-information about what to donate and where to donate, Kassie had the idea to call the shelters directly and just bring them what they asked for. Many friends have been asking how to send money to help, and we started this go fund me page to provide a way they can.

Our relationship or contact to the parties you're raising funds for:

We have no direct relationship to the parties we are raising money for, except that they live in our community. The money we are raising is going to purchase supplies official shelters for fire evacuees are requesting. Our process is simple: we are researching where evacuees are being told to go. Then we are contacting the managers of the shelters and asking them what items they need and in what quanities, if there is anything NOT to bring and if they have any specific requests. Then we do our best to procure the items and deliver them. 

We have deliered supplies to 
- St. Apollinaris Church in Napa
- Sonoma Valley High School
- Sonoma Rotary
- Sonoma Raceway RV Evacuee Camp
- Mayacamas Volunteer Fire Department

We will continue to monitor needs and deliver what is asked. With the current situation improving and many evacuation orders lifted, we shifted to fundraising for the wonderful volunteer fire departments in the mountain regions that get very little funding and rely on donations to sustain their operations and equipement. These volunteers have been instramental to curbing the loss of homes in these mountain area which have been among the most impacted by these fires. 

Here is how the funds will be spent :

100%+ of the money raised will directly go to purchase of items requested by the evacuation centers and to support the Mayacamas & Dry Creek-Lokoya Volunteer  Fire Departments. 
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Here are the types of things we have purchased for shelters:
- face masks (it's unhealthy to breath the air)
- hygeine necessities: diapers, wipes, toothbrushes, tampons, deodorant, toilet paper
- new underwear and socks
- hand sanitizer
- batteries
- phone chargers
- non-parishable food
- pet food
- pet crates
- bedding

Here is what the funds going to the volunteer fire departments will go to:
- improved equipement
- additional equipement
- communication equipement
- improved facilities 

Our withdrawal plan to get the funds from the campaign to the ultimate beneficiary/ies:

We have been paying for the items out of pocket and will reimburse ourselves via the funds on this page. We will only withdraw what we have spent. If we have money left over and the evacuation centers have no more needs we can fulfill we will donate every last penny to:

Mayacamas Volunteer Fire Department 
http://www.mayacamasvfd.org

Dry Creek-Lokoya Volunteer Fire Department 
http://www.drycreek.org/

Everything is changing moment by moment and we will update this page.

THANK YOU!