“HERE’S SOMETHING you don’t see every day,” wrote Rosemary Byrne of the Red Cross’ Palo Alto Area Chapter. “Residents affected by the June 11 fire in Mountain View are throwing a thank-you barbecue on Aug. 26 for everyone who helped them at that time, including the Red Cross and the Mountain View Fire Department.”
The fire she refers to was on the 100 block of Church Street, where a two-alarm blaze put a dozen people out of their homes. As usual, Red Cross volunteers were on hand to help the displaced residents find a place to stay, a bite to eat and whatever else they needed.
“We often hear ‘thank you’ from people we help, but I don’t think we (and I doubt the firefighters) ever had a party thrown in our honor as thanks,” Byrne wrote.
For more on our local chapter of the American Red Cross, visit www.paarc.org.
AS NOTED IN this week’s Home & Garden section, “Literacy in the Garden” is seeking volunteers (see page 23).
But there’s also a corollary program, “Literacy in the Classroom,” which is seeking volunteers to “share simple stories about their childhood favorites with Castro third-graders,” wrote organizer Linda McCrary.
The seven-week program, which meets Tuesday mornings, “kicks off Oct. 2 with a two-hour training session. Volunteers will receive detailed week-to-week instructions, and no writing or teaching experience is required,” McCrary wrote.
For more information, e-mail lmccrary@mvlaae.net or call (650) 940-6024.
Don Frances can be reached at dfrances@mv-voice.com.
