SRJC Fire Relief Fund gets $100,000 donation

Santa Rosa Junior College has received a donation of $100,000 from the 2017 North Bay Fire Relief Fund. The fund was established by Redwood Credit Union, The Press Democrat and State Senator Mike McGuire to support the immediate needs of community members who have lost homes in the four counties (Sonoma, Napa, Mendocino and Lake) affected by the recent fires, first responders who lost homes while fighting fires and students from both public and private schools.

The donation was made to the SRJC Fire Relief Fund to support the urgent needs of SRJC students and employees who lost their homes.

“When your life has been unexpectedly disrupted, getting back into a normal daily routine can help with resilience and recovery,” said Brett Martinez, president and CEO of Redwood Credit Union. “We hope the donation from the North Bay Fire Relief Fund will help SRJC students and staff who were affected by the fires to resume their studies and work so they can begin to regain a sense of calm and stability.”

SRJC Superintendent/President Dr. Frank Chong said: “At last count, more than 1,000 SRJC students, faculty, staff and administrators have lost their homes. Students need to replace books, supplies, computers, bikes and other essentials so that they can stay in school, and employees who lost everything need assistance so that they can continue to teach and support our students. Thanks to this generous donation, we will be able to provide grants to help hundreds of additional SRJC students and employees in need.”

The SRJC Foundation established the SRJC Fire Relief Fund with $100,000, which has been met with an additional $300,000 in donations from the community, including a $50,000 donation from Exchange Bank and several large donations from other California community college districts. To date, the college already has distributed funds to help more than 400 individuals. SRJC students and employees who lost homes are eligible for grants from both the SRJC Fire Relief Fund and the 2017 North Bay Fire Relief Fund.

Donations to the SRJC Fire Relief Fund may be made online at https://firerelief.santarosa.edu.

Further information and resources related to SRJC’s fire response are available at www.santarosa.edu, https://facebook.com/santarosajc, https://twitter.com/santarosajc, https://instagram.com/santarosajc.