Local Knights of Columbus teamed up with staff from the Diocesan Pastoral Center to collect and donate food and supplies to residents of San Bernardino mountain communities facing difficulty getting food and essential items due to the heavy winter storms that impacted Southern California in March. Food donations from diocesan staff and the Knights of Columbus were collected and sorted and then transported to the communities of Crestline and Lake Arrowhead.
“Since we heard [mountain residents] were getting that much snow, one thing for sure is that we have been keeping them in our prayers … we have been thinking of them, and now we are collecting food and other things to send up to the parishes,” Bishop Alberto Rojas said March 9 as supplies were gathered for delivery at the pastoral center.
Heavy storms in late February and early March dumped vast amounts of snow into the mountain communities, with Lake Arrowhead, Crestline, Running Springs, and Wrightwood getting the worst of the snowfall. The huge snowfall caused road closures for days and even weeks for some roads, frustrating many residents who had to spend several hours per day to even dig themselves out of their houses.
“We’ve had large storms before, but the way this one came so fast and unrelenting, we just couldn’t get a handle on it,” said Genese “Gigi” Horan, Youth Minister at Our Lady of the Lake, Lake Arrowhead.
Some residents faced shortages of food and medical supplies, and emergency responses were hampered by the roads not being cleared. Those in the Crestline/Lake Arrowhead area had a particularly difficult time of it when the roof of Goodwin & Sons Market, the only grocery store in Crestline, collapsed from the weight of the snow….
One parishioner from St. Frances Xavier Cabrini in Crestline, Anna Maria Abrams: “When we first moved up there, we used to have 3-4 feet of snow with each storm. But this we’ve never experienced.”
The residents of Crestline, and in particular the approximately 150 parishioners of St. Frances Xavier Cabrini, are a tight-knit community, explained Abrams, which made not being able to come together for Mass for several weekends difficult.
Storm-related property damage up in the mountains was common, with many roofs caving in from the weight of the snow or fallen trees crushing roofs or cars. Thankfully, mountain parishes seem to have escaped much of the damage. There were multiple downed trees at St. Frances Xavier Cabrini, one of which fell on a parish building, although it appears to not have caused any substantial damage due to the snow which cushioned the fall. Our Lady of the Lake reported broken windows from so many feet of snow pressing against the buildings and some flooding later in March, once a warmer storm brought rain that melted the snow….
Original story from Inland Catholic Byte
If people can get in with food, the residents can get out to buy food. Residents should have stocked up ahead of the storms, besides. And if someone lives that remotely, he should have an emergency supply of food and water anyway. Charity doesn’t mean rescuing people from their negligence. People are so lazily accustomed to having Amazon Prime deliver everything in a few days that they don’t have basic survival common sense nor the ability to deal with life when an emergency occurs.
I myself have nine months of freeze-dried food and water stored for emergencies. I also have guns and ammo. Plenty to hunker down and outlast my neighbors should I ever need to.
Well…la ti da! Good for you that you have 9 months of freeze-dried food all stored up for yourself! Would you share it with a neighbor in need if they were in dire circumstances? Think about it!
No, hunkered down. You do not understand. This was a highly unusual situation– and extremely dangerous. Not what most people are used to. You have obviously never seen such a dangerous situation with snow– nor tried to shovel that huge amount of snow, nor tried to drive in it, with an appropriate vehicle. For one thing– it takes special equipment to handle that kind of snow– a great big snowplow! And you should be very careful– most people, even big, strong men– do not have the ability to shovel much of that kind of snowfall. Very dangerous! And don’t try to drive in it. Snow tires, or a 4-wheel drive, are helpful. But you might get stuck in the heavy snow, and get stranded– and could even die! Heavy snowfall can damage a home, cave in the roof, and falling trees also can severely damage a home. Avalanches can kill people. If you are an elderly person with health problems, an elderly widow, all alone, a young mother with young children, or a sick or disabled person– this situation is especially dangerous! Wonderful that the Diocese and KofC came to the rescue!
Does anyone really believe all four of those people shoveled snow? Did any of them? Those shovels look like they were just purchased from Wal-Mart for the photo op. Might even still have the price tags on them.
They are people posing with the shovels donated by K of C.
Those are some big snow shovels. I’ve never seen shovels like that. Maybe if you get light, powdery snow that would work. Snow is heavy and you would have to have a lot of shoulder and arm strength to lift that shovel full of snow.
What’s up fella? Nothing wrong with prepping here. How do you judge him?
When the fake wuflu hit some folks didn’t have an extra toilet paper roll. Every one should keep food and water for emergencies. You know earthquakes and floods and fires? it was in all the newspapers.
The cynicism is overwhelming. It doesn’t matter how much food or other supplies you have in your home if the snow is three to four feet high. It is beyond me why someone would criticize someone for trying to help other people. Whatever happened to the “Common Good?”
What odd comments for Good Friday.