Page 7 - Mid Valley Times 12-26-19 E-edition

The View From Here
Giving back to the Reedley community
As I stood
in the middle
of the street
on Kings Drive
Circle, my
hands began to
tremble. I was
holding up my
phone record-
ing video, and
noticed my
hands were shaking, almost uncontrollably.
Maybe it was the weath- er? A cold rainy night in late December, just days from Christmas. I was of course not dressed for the cold, wearing only a light sweater and jacket like always- or maybe it was the fact that just feet from me stood a sprawling house con- sumed by enormous flames.
I continued to record video and allowed my brain to fully process what I was witnessing so I could forgo the shock and begin working on the story.
Behind me scores of neighbors and onlookers also watched in amazement. The only sound, crackling and pop- ping from the fire was then interrupted by a loud cry. I turned around to see a young man, covered in soot, kneeling down crying in the driveway of his neighbors house.
One fire engine had arrived on scene and began to pour wa- ter on the flames.
Firefighters were stoic as they worked with laser focus to fight the blaze.
I walked over to the young man. “Is that your home?” I asked him. “Yes,” he said through tears.
I noticed his face was grey with soot and ash, as streaks of tears lined his cheeks and eyes.
“My dogs,” he said. “I don’t know if they made it out.”
In that moment I turned to see a large white dog be- ing carried by firefighters to a sidewalk.
The dog was placed on its side and given oxygen but there was no movement.
Fire personnel continued with the oxygen and began to rub the dog's belly, still no movement.
My heart sank as I walked around to position myself in front of the dog. I noticed his eyes began to open slowly. He looked confused, but otherwise ok.
A collective sigh of relief could be heard from those watching in suspense.
I later learned the dog’s name; Chubbs.
Chubbs, a large white pit bull with a sweet face, was found suffering from smoke inhalation. Thankfully he was found just in time and is ex- pected to be okay.
It took the fire just seconds, minutes to spread and destroy the home. It took crews hours to control it and save the near- by homes.
SEE COLUMN on page A8
Juanita Adame
ABOVE: Volunteers helped gather a variety of donated items to
profit organization,” she con- tinued. “It depends fully on charitable donations.”
Hernandez said since then, the Catholic Daughters hap- pily provided items for the Faith House. It wasn’t until November 2019, that she at- tended a fundraising dinner and soon learned all about the Faith House and its mission.
According to their web- site, the Faith House pro- vides temporary shelter for displaced families and is a safe haven for women and children who may be victims of domestic violence.
Hernandez said that knowledge sparked some- thing inside of her. “When we attended the dinner it was ex- plained how the whole thing was started and how they got together with the Harvest Church members,” she said. “I was sitting there and it oc- curred to me that instead of donating canned foods, we should do more.”
Hernandez then recruited the help of her students and the students at T.L. Reed.
“We selected each grade level at T.L. Reed to donate specific items,” she said. “For example, kindergarten was in charge of toothbrushes and toothpaste. The next lev- el was in charge of soap and body wash and so on.”
“We had shampoo, condi- tioner,” she continued. “Dish washing detergent, toilet pa- per paper towels, anti bacteri- al.” She did not expect for the turnout of items. Hernandez said it makes her feel good to know that families living at the Faith House will benefit from the items they collected.
“As churches, we need to work together,” she said. “These are people from our community, St. Anthony’s is part of our community and it’s good to come and work together for a good cause just like this one.” More photos on A12.
families at the Faith House in Reedley.
Photo Contributed
By Juanita Adame
Mid Valley Times
When Rosa Hernandez, a teacher at T.L. Reed and member of the Catholic Daughters club, was put in charge of the donation drive at her church, she agreed and until then, knew few details about the Faith House and its
mission.
“Anita Betancourt ap-
proached the Catholic Daugh- ters when the Faith House was first opened,” said Her- nandez on the afternoon of Dec. 20. “She asked if we’d be willing to be one of the sup- porters of the Faith House, and we agreed.”
“The Faith House is a non
Awards and promotions for Sanger Fire
Photo by Juanita Adame / The Mid Valley Times
Sanger Fire Personnel were sworn into their new positions during the department's awards and pin- ning ceremony held on the afternoon of Dec. 20.
By Juanita Adame
The Mid Valley Times
The Sanger Fire Depart- ment was filled with family and friends on the afternoon of Dec. 20 as several fire per- sonnel were recognized as "new hires" while others were awarded and promoted,
“I would like to thank ev- eryone who came out to share this event with us,” said Greg Tarascou, Sanger’s Fire Chief.
“Over the last year we’ve done a lot here at the depart- ment,” he said.
In all, twelve members of the Sanger Fire Department were awarded and promoted. They included; Andy Jones and Dean Williams, promoted to Captains.
Chris Waddle promoted to Lieutenant. Joseph Montejano, Craig Pitts and Kacey King promoted to Engineer. Alek Mechikoff, Dominic Smith, and Hieu Pham as firefighters, Joshua Daniel was promoted to Fire Investigator. Retirees included Todd Hiatt, a cap- tain, and David Santos also a captain.
Contributed
ABOVE: Several of the items collected from T.L. Reed students in- cluded hygiene products, laundry detergent, and toilet paper.