Help for Pajaro

Pajaro disaster relief efforts continue rolling through the next phase of recovery

On March 11^th, the Pajaro River had a 400-foot breech in the levy which caused some homes to be destroyed while other properties had up to six feet of water pass through their homes. In total, there were 240 single family homes, 42 multi-family dwellings and 81 commercial dwellings damaged.

The Pajaro Middle school located in the epicenter of this little community had 50% of the classrooms damaged by the floods, with the students not able to return to their classrooms.

More than 9,000 cubic yards of debris was hauled out including nearly 600 appliances, which included ovens, refrigerators, washers and dryers. Currently, there are still nearly 70 families still living in hotels.

The water was contaminated, the sewage system was destroyed and covered valuable land while making some homes uninhabitable.

We are now in the next phase of recovery and this is where we are calling for Rotarians to get into action. This will be a very long-term recovery, which will last long after the news stops reporting.

The Rotary Club of Freedom along with our partners; Pajaro Valley High School Interact that our club supports, Red Cross, Salvation Army, Loaves and Fishes, Casa De La Cultura, Watsonville Rotary, Salinas Rotary plus many Santa Cruz County organizations have been engaged to provide much needed support. Federal and State aid, plus state and federal has been limited, with many families not qualifying for aid.

Our ask today is for our Rotary partners to donate through our Rotary Club of Freedom website to help support the work and resources our boots on the ground partners have identified so that we can continue to provide the immediate and long term needs for these families and businesses. Your donation will be used as leverage to stretch the dollar so that we have better purchase power for our family’s needs. Thank you.

Trina Coffman-Gomez

Rotary Club of Freedom President 22/23

TrinaCGo@Gmail.com