Volunteers working tirelessly to help evacuees at Napa County Fairgrounds
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. (KGO) -- Fire evacuees may have lost their homes, but they are finding an incredible amount of love and support from volunteers who have been showing up every day at the Napa County Fairgrounds.
Evacuees in the tent city wake up to porta potties, damp grass and the realization that everything they owned is gone.
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It's enough to make you roll over and fall back asleep until you catch the smell of coffee in the air. "It makes things much easier. I look forward to breakfast, lunch and dinner," Cathleen Green said.
Green lost everything including her teeth in the fire. "To have this much support is great," she said.
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Many of the volunteers preparing meals for the evacuees are Calistoga natives. "I'm here because I can't stay away," Jackie Lang said.
Lang is a retired schoolteacher who showed up Saturday night and has helped every day since.
Lang explains her role as organizing chaos. "People just want to give so much," she said.
Richard Johnsen and his wife returned from vacation and got straight to work. "It's the right thing to do," he said.
Their goal every day is to serve with a smile. "It's really sad to see what people have gone through and to see what people have lost and if you can just give them a little bit of encouragement and a little bit of comfort, I think that's a good thing," Johnsen said.
One man who showed up to help fire victims travels around the world to help with disaster relief. Bennett Haman says the suffering looks very similar. "People have lost a lot, their pictures and stuff they've had and things that don't mean much to other people, but mean a lot to them," he said.
The volunteers are working tirelessly and had lunch ready for the evacuees before noon on Thursday.
Some volunteers ABC7 News spoke with said they will be helping around the clock until Sunday.
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