Redmen for Santa Rosa

F

fuchsia

Well-known member
As some redmen.com members already know (Paultzman and Beast of the East), and as also noted by Class of 72, our founder and webmaster, Paul Massell, lives near Santa Rosa, California. When I saw the TV coverage of the fire disaster sweeping that city I contacted Paul to see if he was affected. So far he and his family are safe but two homes owned by relatives, (one expecting their first child) were destroyed by fire. (parts of) Santa Rosa have largely been destroyed as has much of the Napa Valley. The fellow board members I contacted suggested that we help Paul and his family recover from this devastation. It would be a great opportunity to help out a dire situation as a passionate community of Sju alums and Redmen basketball fans. It is also a great way to show our appreciation of Paul providing this forum thanklessly for so many years. How awesome if the dozens who post here regularly all helped out, no matter what the size of donation is. Thanks in advance for caring - we know you do.
This is the latest feedback we had from Paul.

I got an email from Catholic Charities today that seems to have the easiest options for donating. A couple of my daughters have volunteered with them in the past and they are definitely doing some good things. I’ve copied that email below and hopefully the links work from it:

This is my parish. The donate page doesn’t make it easy…
http://www.steugenes.com/donations.php

Also I didn’t realize it when I first went to the page for SVDP Sonoma but where it says “MAKE A SECURE DONATION” is a button to click through:
http://www.svdp-sonoma.org/make-a-donation-to-svdp-sonoma.html

Catholic Charities of SR:
DONATE
 
here is the text from that Catholic Charities email:

October 24, 2017
Catholic Charities Supporters and Partners,

The fires are no longer burning, but our work has just begun. More than 15,000 people have lost their homes and all of their possessions. They need a place to live. They need food, clothing and other basic necessities.

That's where we come in. Catholic Charities of Santa Rosa has 35 years of experience helping people recover from disasters like this one. Over the next week, we'll send you highlights of what we're doing 24-7 to make it possible for our most vulnerable neighbors to get back on their feet as quickly as possible.

We know you want to help. Catholic Charities has a really easy way for you to do just that. Money is what is needed now, so that we can continue the vital work of helping people rebuild their lives. Your donation along with many others, will go to work immediately to provide emergency assistance to extremely vulnerable fire victims in Sonoma, Napa, and Lake Counties.

Help us help them. Donate what you can today. Thank you.

You can also donate by phone - (707) 479-7140 or by sending a check payable to Catholic Charities - PO Box 4900 Santa Rosa CA 95402.

Thank you again your prayers and your generosity,

---
also NY Times article on the subject from today:
 
Tried to donate to SVDP and the link does not work when you click donate. Tried to call their Exec Dir and his voicemail was full. I will keep trying and hope others do as well and will post when I succeed.
 
yeah they don't make it easy! They've been having town hall style meetings preparing people that lost their homes. They were told that just about everyone affected was under-insured and to expect the insurance companies to stick it to them and to be prepared to be out of their homes for 3-5 years because of the massive scale of loss and rebuilding and insurance companies might pay for rentals for 1 or 2 years. On top of this they are expecting (re)building costs to be elevated by 20% or more for reasons of supply/demand. If you saw Erin Brochovic that story is about PG&E negligence killing people and who they are saying was responsible for these fires also due to negligence. So after years of lawsuits PG&E raises prices on customers and created complicated rate schemes to pay for the lawsuits. So you get screwed no matter what.
 
Hey guys,

This is a really important topic that we should all be responsive to. I know that every charitable organization says it doesn't matter what you give as long as you do give. In this case for all of us I would advocate this 100 fold.

I don't think many Redmen.com'ers are aware of how the devastating fires in Santa Rosa affected Paul and his family. Even as Redmen.com stayed operational as if nothing was going on, Paul had to evacuate his entire family as smoke and flames engulfed his town. Close family members lost their homes, including a pregnant niece and her husband. On the heels of incredible carnage done by three hurricanes in close succession, with 2 substantial earthquakes in Mexico, these fires were just one more thing that become old news as soon as the next big thing happens.

Fuchsia and I were trying to figure a good way to put money into Paul's hands to distribute as he sees fit, and when I suggested his local parish, his pastor advised to donate to Catholic Charities. I do like grass roots efforts, where money sometimes get distributed more efficiently to those who need it most, but I am also aware that Catholic Charities does enormous good and there worldwide efforts are not limited to helping only Catholics.

The diocese of Santa Rose has a donations hyperlink right on their home page:http://www.srcharities.org/

You can dedicate your donation, and "Redmen for Santa Rosa" would be a great way for us as an online AND university community to support Paul's area.

I don't think many of you know what a good and decent man Paul is, and in no way was he the catalyst in asking for help. We offered, and he thought it was a great idea to help his community.

Do what you can, guys. You don't have to post an amount here, but it would be great to see 100 posts following this one, indicating that you've made a donation. After all, Redmen.com has created a great virtual forum and community for 20 years now, and it wouldn't have happened without Paul.
 
yeah they don't make it easy! They've been having town hall style meetings preparing people that lost their homes. They were told that just about everyone affected was under-insured and to expect the insurance companies to stick it to them and to be prepared to be out of their homes for 3-5 years because of the massive scale of loss and rebuilding and insurance companies might pay for rentals for 1 or 2 years. On top of this they are expecting (re)building costs to be elevated by 20% or more for reasons of supply/demand. If you saw Erin Brochovic that story is about PG&E negligence killing people and who they are saying was responsible for these fires also due to negligence. So after years of lawsuits PG&E raises prices on customers and created complicated rate schemes to pay for the lawsuits. So you get screwed no matter what.
Click to expand...

I lost the first floor of two homes affected by Sandy. Two different insurance companies and both tried to screw us out of paying for actual damage. Had to report them to NY ins. Commissioner to get re-estimated. We didn't need donations or other assistance like Puerto Rico and other recent places but from the government to the insurance companies it is a struggle to be treated fairly. Our thoughts and prayers are with you.
 
Done!

To Paul and others affected...positive thoughts and prayers

Beast...thanks for putting this out there...
 
Done!

To Paul and others affected...positive thoughts and prayers

Beast...thanks for putting this out there...
Click to expand...

Fuchsia really deserves a ton of credit. He is a perfect example of what i love about SJU and redmen.com. We often participate in debate coming from opposing points of view but I totally respect and like him and believe our hearts are in the same place.

Thanks to all who donated so far. Guys, let's keep this going. Santa Rosa needs our help.

Www.srcharities.org worked fine for me
 
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