How and where to help, whether you have a lot or little, as Monterey County begins recovering from the fires.

IT’S BEEN A YEAR OF DISASTERS. One way to measure the number of disasters is by disaster funds set up at the nonprofit Community Foundation for Monterey County, where they just stopped awarding grants from their Covid-19 Relief Fund. (That’s just a matter of coincidence, says President/CEO Dan Baldwin – “we’re giving it time to replenish.”)

But as one fund replenishes, a new fund – to help victims of the River, Dolan and Carmel fires – begins.

It’s called the Monterey Fire Relief Fund and it launched on Thursday, Aug. 20. Money has yet to be granted, and the foundation is still getting a handle on need. “One of things that we are learning right now is that many low-income households that have been forced to evacuate may not have adequate financial resources,” Baldwin says. “There are usually three parts to natural disasters: relief, recovery and rebuild. A fund like this is mostly relief, and maybe some recovery.”

The fund will do the work of determining need, but there are also other ways to give cash and support directly to people impacted by the fires. As Baldwin points out, “If you have a clear sense of where you want to give, by all means, give there.”

That could mean contributing to a GoFundMe campaign for a family whose house burned down. Do you really care about animals? The SPCA for Monterey County, which itself was under an evacuation warning, had to relocate animals large and small to alternative spaces, and has launched its own designated fire relief fund.

Short on cash, but not time? Volunteer, especially through tuning into your social media networks. There has been a boom of grassroots mutual aid efforts in Monterey County since Covid-19. Many efforts are active on social media, such as All In Monterey (on Instagram @all.in.monterey) and Agents of Change 831 (on Instagram @agensofchange831) who could use help assembling backpacks and masks for farm workers working in smoky conditions, or staffing tables for evacuee events.

But most of all, listen to the needs of whatever organizations you want to help. While filling backpacks with school supplies may be helpful one week, it could be a burden the next week. Money is the most flexible resource, as organizations have the best sense of what they do need and what they have in excess.

And excess generosity is a weird problem to have, but prompted by a surge in donated goods, county emergency officials on Aug. 22 announced they were inundated: “Please do not collect or bring donations to our evacuation shelters or centers,” they wrote. “There is no staff available to manage, sort or distribute items. We have had to turn away large amounts of items collected for this purpose and redirect to other support agencies.”

Instead, they encourage people to learn where it’s most helpful to donate money, goods or volunteer hours at montereyco.recovers.org.