Relief Angels began as a nonprofit organization in 2005. We started our mission to support volunteer and underfunded local first responder departments in rural Eastern Oregon. Over the years, we have been blessed with the opportunity to have an even larger impact support thousands of individuals.
Many people like to see numbers and calculate impact based on recordable data. Everyone that volunteers for Relief Angels is paid in smiles. Smiles from grateful survivors, grateful volunteer firefighters, and smiles from donors when they get the opportunity to see the impact their donation made. Since you don’t get to personally see these smiles, we broke down aggregate data for one year of operation in Disaster Relief.
2020
The year 2020 was hard on everyone across the world, but the Pacific Northwest was hit especially hard by compounding Covid with Flooding and Wildfires. Here is a summary of how we helped our local communities in that year.
Flooding
In February we responded to the flood in NE Oregon and SE Washington. We helped 104 ranchers/farmers in various ways ranging from saving animals to clearing debris to rebuilding fencing. 490 Tons of hay was donated and transported into this community for this disaster.
Covid KIDS Meals
In March, Covid-19 began impacting our communities and by April our children and the economy were both suffering. We flash launched a new program called KIDS. Kids Immediate Dinner Solutions. We collected donations to pay our local restaurants. The restaurants provided dinners for kids in the Union County Community at no cost to them. Many teachers and other community leaders that worked with the children of this community volunteered to deliver the meals to these children if they were unable to pick them up. This program was created with the intent of lasting 4 weeks. Just long enough to give the restaurant Owners a minor reprieve and provide much needed meals to the children in this community. 4 weeks in, we had donations coming in from all over the community and our officials expanding the covid-19 restrictions, so we decided that we would continue the program for as long as God provided the funding for it.
9 Weeks, 524 Children, and well over 3000 meals later, we finished the program. A special thank you goes out to the La Grande McDonalds for donating all of the milk for the entire duration of the program! Bud Jacksons, Cinco De Mayo, Cowboys and Angels, Dusty Spur Café, Local Harvest, Mamacita’s International Grill, North Powder Café, Raul’s Taqueria, Side A Brewing, Thai Fresh Gardens, and Timbers Feedery for partnering with us to make this happen.
SAR Support
In June, we went back to our comfort zone by helping on a smaller scale. We helped supply needed items for a Search and Rescue operation for a missing child as well as spread awareness about the child. The child was found, SAFE!
Covid Masks
In July, we reverted back to adjusting to yet another new territory. It became clear that masks would become a necessary part of our lives for the immediate future, so we started supplying materials and having volunteers create masks for kids so that our kids could have access to free masks.
Wildfires and Hurricanes
By August, we were in full swing for wildfire relief in the Pacific Northwest and hurricane relief in the South. Then… September hit. We experienced record breaking disasters throughout the country. Over 17,000 buildings, over 6 million acres, and 43 deaths plagued Oregon, Washington, and California. 31 cyclones equating to 13 hurricanes and 431 deaths devastated the Atlantic side of our country.
Continued Needs
WE NEED HELP! There always seems to be more needs than there are people able to help. We need more people willing to transport donation, collect donations, donate needed items, direct distribution centers, clean up disaster affected properties, feed and care for animals, rebuild homes and fences, the list seems endless. One person can not do everything, but with a multitude of people, we can do anything!
YOUR DONATION helps our volunteers transport donations, purchase needed items, rebuilds lives, and restores dignity to human and animal survivors of disasters that have plagued our neighborhoods!
DROPPING OFF DEODORANT may seem miniscule to you, but when it is added to everything everyone else is doing we go from a stick of deodorant to a full trailer load! Every part is necessary!
Disaster Task Force
The South
The most up to date information from our Disaster Task Force (DTF) can be found on Facebook. Christian Oakes is an adoring dad, CEO, Volunteer Firefighter, and runs our DTF program. He, with his team of volunteers, activates when people need rescued in the wake of tornadoes and hurricanes from Texas to Florida. One hole that has been noticed by the majority of the Search and Rescue (SAR) groups is pets. Christian partners with Flip Flop Floatilla to save pets as well as people.
The Pacific Northwest
Valerie O’Dai runs our PNW DTF. The Pacific NW tends to have much different needs than the South. Our disasters are very different and because of this a unique skill set is required to volunteer in this aspect. The PNW DTF usually is called to assist with animal evacuation assistance and injured animal transportation in the immediate aftermath of a flood or wildfire.
Everyone has the Potential to Become a 1st Responder Depending on the Situation
Everyone has the ability to offer something when a disaster strikes. We admire our first responders and thank them for all of their sacrifices. Occasionally, we must also acknowledge their limitations. There aren’t enough of them to help everyone when mother nature decides to strike against an entire community. Every neighbor and friend become one of those that can respond first. If you have a desire to help us with this program, then we can use you! We do require knowledge of Radio Communications and some training such as, Animals in Disaster Awareness, first aid and CPR to be active on the front lines, but the front lines aren’t the only people required for our Disaster Task Force.