Casey & Beth Gwinn, Victoria Stewart, Bonnie Stone, Brenda Weiss, Joel Anderson, Bill Lopez
Former City Attorney Casey Gwinn & the Salvation Army to the rescue!
Late Night Food Delivery To Campo & Potrero Residents
Due to its proximity to the Harris Fire, over 200 evacuees were housed at the Red Cross operated evacuation center in Campo. The evacuees were in desperate need of additional supplies and food and were surprised to see the late night caravan arrive into their camp after 10pm.
Earlier that day Casey Gwinn learned of needs of these two remote East County communities and worked all day to find the donations. And with help of Bonnie Stone from the Salvation Army and Billy Lopez from Budget Electric, they organized an odd caravan of vehicles, which included a trailer, truck, motorhome, and plenty of cars. By the time everyone rallied to leave El Cajon it was already after 8pm, but the supplies had to roll.
“Red”, the manager of the Red Cross Campo shelter met this enthusiastic caravan of volunteers & supplies with open arms.
Once the Campo supplies were offloaded, the caravan met up with a Sheriff’s Department escort car. Casey encouragingly remarked ”Although Potrero is in an active burn zone and closed to the non-emergency vehicles, we can make it with our Sheriff escort.”
Despite the late hour, all the volunteers agreed to forge on and try to deliver the supplies to the 60+ families that were believed stuck there.
As the caravan weaved it’s way through the fire zone, Firefighters, Border Patrol Agents, and Sheriffs were greeted with care packages of food. Many of these first responders had not taken a break to eat since early that morning due to the rigors of the fire. Many of them were from out of town and they quickly learned how grateful San Diegans were to have them working in our community.
The caravan rolled into the Potrero Fire Station just after 2am. The Command center manager, Brenda Weiss, was greatly relieved and thankful on behalf of the residents. She also mentioned her delight to see Buck Petroleum earlier in the evening.
Thank you to all the members of this impromptu caravan of volunteers who decided to make a difference in East County lives!
Be sure to thank your neighbors because community heroes come from all walks of life.
If you would like to donate or volunteer please call us or The Rock Church at (619) 226-ROCK, www.therocksandiego.org. Our community needs all our support.
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