Photo by Don Haynes
Barbara Stogsdill of Erie and Linda Eberhard of Broomfield sorted shoes, socks and clothes together on Fri., Sept. 10, 2010, for Fourmile Fire victims at Boulder County’s official donation center operated by the Boulder Office of Emergency Management. Please see more photos at: Photos As Light Shines – Fourmile Fire victims.
Barbara Stogsdill of Erie and Linda Eberhard of Broomfield sorted shoes, socks and clothes together on Fri., Sept. 10, 2010, for Fourmile Fire victims at Boulder County’s official donation center operated by the Boulder Office of Emergency Management.
The women were among the 230 Mormon Helping Hands volunteers wearing their yellow vests who served a total of approximately 1,000 hours Friday and Saturday alone.
Late Thursday evening, the OEM asked the Boulder Colorado Stake, a local geographical subdivision of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, for help on Friday morning in setting up and organizing its donation collection center at 3111 28th Street. With less than 24 hours to prepare, Michael Williams, the stake’s president, aimed for approximately 90 volunteers in addition to the volunteers coming from the Longmont Stake. By 9 a.m. on Friday, 90 volunteers had signed in at the donation center.
The Mormon helping hands volunteers had fun serving with volunteers of others faiths, those associated with businesses and individuals. Together they set up tables, posted signs to aid in sorting, received bags of donations and formed a bucket brigade as they unloaded trucks. They sorted school supplies and hygiene products. They sorted clothes by age and gender into boxes and tossed away those dirty or worn.
On Sunday, volunteering continued without yellow vests and will continue in the coming weeks with help from Westminster and Arvada stakes added to Boulder and Longmont’s efforts.
Volunteers for the Fourmile Fire victims, Kevin Rinnert and Amanda Pagel, both of Westminster, Colo., play a duet on donated violins at Boulder’s donation center on Sept. 14, 2010. See the bags of donated items yet to be sorted behind them.
The fire began Sept. 6, 2010, and was contained Sept. 13. It burned 6,181 acres in the foothills west of Boulder and destroyed 169 homes but had no fatalities. To date, it is the worst fire in Colorado history for property damage.
Broomfield Enterprise story: My Town: Broomfield, other LDS volunteers help out in wake of fire
As Light Shines 