This has been the most devastating week we have experienced in Southern Oregon's modern history due to a massive wind event that triggered major fires.

For all of you who don't know. I live in Ashland, Oregon, which is in the Southernmost part of the beautiful state of Oregon. Last week on September 8th we had this massive wind event that only happens once in a generation, (and usually, it is in the Fall/Winter seasons) caused a massive uncontainable fire right at the tail end of our dry/fire season.

The "Almeda Fire" started less than a mile from my home.

We were lucky. Many weren't.

The wind pushed this fire at speeds of 40 miles per hour to the North/Northwest and began a trail of total destruction through the North tip of Ashland, and right through the center of Talent, Oregon & Phoenix, Oregon, and into southern parts of Medford, Oregon.

Half of my friend's homes & businesses were destroyed. Plus, so many low-income people lost everything. Many of them were migrant workers and undocumented. In total, probably over 2,000 homes lost and many businesses.

The power of this community runs deep though. We are resilient, and we are joining forces and coming together in a very unprecedented way to lift everyone up and help heal and rebuild.

🔴 This is why I am reaching out to you today.

Will you take a moment to donate to the many families in need of support, as well as donate to our cities fire recovery fund? Every dollar counts right now.

Here are a few secure ways you can get money directly into our community for support:

→ Rogue Credit Union
→ The City of Ashland Fire Relief
→ Ashland Food Co-op Relief
→ UNETE Farmworker and Immigrant Relief Fund

Also, there are individual families with GoFundMe's who don't have big networks of friends who have a lot of money to donate.

Here is a comprehensive list of families who need it the most.

A big thank you to Izzy Rodriguez for putting this Google Doc together. If you are in a position to donate, please do, otherwise, please share this list around. Let's get these families the support they need.

→ List of GoFundMe fundraisers

I know that we will rise up through this challenging moment together. Thank you for any and all support you can offer to this incredible community in our greatest time of need.

All Love,

Cornflower