By Sarah Sanchez
On Friday, October 9, 2020, congregation members of California Zion Church (CZC) and other local Los Angeles residents teamed up to support California’s firefighters in their ongoing wildland firefighting efforts with donations of pillows, coffee, and hundreds of handwritten letters from grateful civilians. During that stretch, City of Los Angeles (CA) Fire Department (LAFD) firefighters had been engaged with battling the Bobcat Fire, one of many wildland fires that afflicted the state over the course of the season.
CZC volunteers gathered donations for the previous two weeks, waking up early to call businesses before work, and used their lunch times to drive and pick up goods from supporting businesses.
In addition to the support given to LAFD on Friday, in Monrovia on the weekend prior, members, other Los Angeles residents and Monrovia Mayor Tom Adams brought donations to Fire Station 101, along with a parade of about 30 thank you message decorated cars that drove by to show gratitude.
According to the Associated Press, wildfire activity of historic proportions in the state of California this year has resulted in the deaths of 31 people, with more than 10,000 buildings damaged or destroyed.
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