Living in the inland empire it seems to always be fire season here unless it is raining or snowing. Community Service starts at home! This time of year my phone is frequently dinging with either alerts to new fires in SoCal or status of existing fires in SoCal. Our District 5330 family is frequently “on fire”: this means that there is a ton of opportunity for many of us to step up to bat at the community service plate!
The very minute we hear of a fire in any D5330 area there is an opportunity to reach out to members you know are in that area. Ask if they need help, what can you do in any way. You may very well either reach someone in need, or light a match (sorry for the term) under them to get involved in their area with other Rotarians to find the need and come up with a quick plan to assist! You’ve heard me many times talk about club “last minute militias”. If any of you have ever been in a fire situation: any and all hands need to be on deck.
Back in 2013 and again in 2018 we were evacuated up here when we had the mountain fire and the Cranston fire. There is no feeling in the world like knowing you could lose everything. You want to grab what you can, but extra hands and knowing that someone has your back in many ways makes a huge difference. On the flip side…….during snowmageddon a couple years ago there was a call for shovelers to assist. Fire is far more debilitating and far more frequent in our district. We all need to think about this. I would have given my right arm to have a few Rotarians show up at my home both of the times we were evacuated. The beauty of using DacDB is you can find a Rotarian in an emergency area and reach out QUCKLY! When the question is put out there …….in your mind have the last minute militia group text ready to go so you can mobilize quickly.
REMEMBER: WE ARE THE ROTARY FAMILY! There’s always need and opportunity to jump in and help. A few of you that are reading this (boring as it may be!) have heard from me when there has been a fire in your area. I know what it’s like…..and I never want to be there again, unless it’s to assist others that are there!
This is a call for clubs to tune up and create your last minute militias so that when we hear of an opportunity to help out……we can do it. We are in “fire country” and we all need to be on our toes for our own survival, as well as those in our Rotary families that we can reach out to when the need is there!
Chuck Weisbart (Cheeze)
Proudly- an Idyllwild Rotarian!
D5330 Community Service Chair
760 578 3592
P.O.Box 278, Idyllwild CA 92549