Community Foundation Plays Leading Role in Wildfire Relief Efforts

Community foundations are assisting in relief and recovery efforts in California. Photo courtesy of Peter Buschmann, U.S. Forest Service.

As natural and man-made disasters continue to grow in number and intensity, community foundations are increasingly being leaned on to provide support to affected communities.

NPR’s Marketplace offers the latest example in its recent account of how money and gift cards are being distributed by those affected by the massive Camp Fire in California.

There, the North Valley Community foundation received about $10 million in donations in November — including funds created by NFL star Aaron Rodgers and corporate brands like Verizon.

To date, the foundation has dispersed about $800,000 and is directing the bulk of the funds to help survivors long term and to help pay for the massive rebuilding effort in Paradise, Calif.

"This is like nothing we've ever done before," Alexa Benson-Valavanis, the organization's CEO, told NPR. "Now we literally go down [to pick up mail] with a box, and the entire box is filled with envelopes and checks."