Today, a group of 20 of us traveled to Rancho Bernardo to help the displaced parishoners of San Rafael. 15 members of the St. James Youth Ministry joined Brothers Pat Villa and Brian Brady, along with a few members of Mission Circle, volunteers from St Brigid's in Pacific Beach, and St. Mary's in Escondido.
We broke out into teams. We cleaned and dug trenches on a hillside, We filled sandbags to shore up that hillside against the expected rains. We moved two families' furniture into apartments. We sifted through the ashes and rubble of a burnt home to help a family recover their valuables.
The inter-generational effort of St. James parishoners was a rewarding experience. For a few hours, teenagers, young adults, parents and grandparents worked alongside each other in an effort to try and temper the malaise in Rancho Bernardo.
Read the blog site hosted by the Valley of the Angels' Council (San Rafael) for continued updates. They will be hosting a salmon dinner fund raiser on Sunday, December 16, 2007 to raise money for families affected by the wildfires. Your attendance would be a token of support to our Brothers in RB.
Please consider joining St. James Disaster Relief Team in its next trip to RB.
