As the winds in Southern California have started to subside and firefighters accelerate their work combating 17 different fires, members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints joined the relief efforts Tuesday by ensuring evacuees and emergency personnel were fed.
“Providing meals became a priority for Church members after they learned that some firefighters had worked for 15 hours with no food,” said Elder John Dalton, a Church leader in Southern California.
Mormons in the San Bernardino area spent most of Wednesday morning preparing over 2,000 meals — 1,000 for evacuees staying at the National Orange Show Fairgrounds in San Bernardino and 1,000 for firefighters and police.
Carolyn Fenn, a local Church leader, was concerned because it had been difficult to get provisions to those who were fighting the fires in the mountains. Tuesday night Fenn, along with 30 Mormon missionaries and 50 volunteers, prepared 1,000 sandwiches and delivered them to the firefighters’ command center in Lake Arrowhead.
“Along with the sandwiches, we were able to deliver 100 dozen cookies baked by Church members. The firefighters appreciated the relief the food brought,” Fenn said.
To date, the Church delivered five truckloads of supplies to evacuees in the San Diego area. Blankets and hygiene kits were given to evacuees in the Lake Arrowhead/Running Springs area. Thirteen chapels are currently being used as temporary shelters.
“We will keep our chapels open as shelters and continue to provide food for as long as the community needs it,” said Dalton.