Congress of Russian Americans has been sending funds to aid victims of various disasters in the past. This has included hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes, floods, terror attacks and most recently the wildfires that have consumed a major portion of Northern California’s homes and businesses.

Many of our Russian-American members and their families have been left virtually homeless. The Sts. Peter & Paul Church in Santa Rosa has offered shelter to make sure people have a safe place to stay until they are relocated. CRA, along with other community organizations and partners have collected funds to provide meals, emergency supplies and other necessities to help people in the immediate aftermath of the disaster and in the weeks that follow.

The Northern California wildfires, one of the deadliest in state history, with as many as 18 separate fires in 9 counties throughout the state have scorched over 220,000 acres in the past week. Over 100,000 people have been evacuated, while nearly 6000 homes and businesses have been destroyed, causing at least 38 deaths. While some of the nearly 250 people missing have been accounted for, some 75 are still missing and the death toll keeps rising as bodies are found amongst the rubble of burnt remnants of homes and cars. The high winds and low humidity challenge the firefighters in containing the blazes that continue to spread and intensify the fires. Evacuations continue amongst break-outs of new fires.

Our CRA members, supporters and friends of the community are invited to send your donations to CRA, with a memo: Disaster Relief Fund. All donations to CRA are tax-deductible with 100% of your donations going towards the support of these families in their time of crisis.