Relief Fund Set Up To Help The Victims of Wildfires Recover

Wildfires are raging across the western USA, and people desperately need help to recover from the outcomes. Homes and businesses have been destroyed, people have lost almost everything, and municipalities, cities, and state (and federal) governments have been scrambling to try and help somehow. And meanwhile, this is all going down in the middle of a global pandemic, where everyone is already struggling. Firefighters have been deployed to try and stop the fires themselves, and U.S citizens all over the country have donated to try and help with relief. And now, Community Foundation Boulder County, a foundation that has always focused on filling the gap to meet immediate needs, has set up a Fires Relief Fund, “to support individuals, families, and nonprofit organizations affected by the Cal-wood and Lefthand Canyon Fires“.

In the Western USA, this year has been a record-breaking fire-season, with four wildfires having sparked the weekend of October 17th, in Colorado and Utah. According to the National Fire Interagency Center, here are some statistics on what’s been going on:

• 61 Fires have raged across:
• 8.3 million acres
• 13 states
  • Arizona (2)
  • California (17)
  • Colorado (5)
  • Idaho (10)
  • Missouri (1)
  • Montana (6)
  • New Mexico (1)
  • Oklahoma (1)
  • Oregon (7)
  • Utah (4)
  • Washington (2)
  • Wyoming (5)

So let’s discuss a bit about what the Fires Relief Funds, courtesy of the Community Foundation Boulder County will do:

The fund will work, in partnership with Boulder County, to open up grants to nonprofit organizations, municipal, and county entities, to aid individuals and organizations by providing immediate relief funds. This will be done by coordinating with Boulder County to identify those who most desperately need relief and deploying funds in that direction.

In addition, this fund will also make grants available directly to non-profit organizations that have been affected by fires, and/or organizations that have been assisting in fire-relief already. In this case, An advisory committee to Community Foundation Boulder County will help to designate which non-profit organizations receive these funds.

Here’s how current funding works out for the 2020 Fires Fund:

• An anonymous donor family has donated $50,000
• 10,000 commitment from Mile High United Way
• Community Foundation Boulder County has also committed $15,000 to start

Featured Grant

The grant researchers at GrantWatch.com are working overtime to find grant funding for those affected by the wildfires. Here is one such grant:
Grants to USA and Pacific territories government agencies in eligible states to improve the capacity to respond to wildfires. Funding is intended to mitigate the risk from wildland fire, with an emphasis on education and information, hazard fuel reduction, planning and assessment, and monitoring through community and landowner action. The application deadline for this grant is fast approaching, so apply today.

Hopefully this will help those most effected by these dangerous and damaging wildfires, in one of the worst fire seasons to date.