09/12/2026
August, by the numbers. ๐ปโค๏ธ
There are months that are busy.
And then there are months that change the shape of an organization.
August was that kind of month for Project Bear Hugs.
In 31 days, our little nonprofit responded to four fires: Bug, Fred Mountain, Stallion and Hawk. We held a Project Bear Hugs Day Out, participated in two community resource fairs, helped coordinate numerous fundraisers, collected and moved thousands of donated items, and began walking alongside families whose recovery will last far longer than the fires themselves.
The numbers are kind of staggering when we stop long enough to look at them:
31 families supported, and counting
38 community drop-off locations
21+ corporate and community partners
22 volunteers
20+ pallets currently in donated warehouse space
4 additional storage units
2 community resource fairs
1 Project Bear Hugs Day Out
Thousands of donated items
And more individual donors than we could accurately count through 38 collection locations
But even that doesnโt tell the whole story.
There were trucks to load and unload. Donations to pick up, sort, move, organize and store. Calls to answer. Families to check on. Needs to match. Events to staff. Supplies to find. Fundraisers to support. And, on the very day we were hosting Project Bear Hugs Day Out for families affected by one fire, another fire broke out.
We also had the opportunity to support other nonprofits, first responders and public agencies when they needed help fulfilling their own missions.
Because disaster response should never be about who gets the credit.
We are stronger when we work together.
And perhaps one of the things I love most about sharing August this way is that nobody had to pose for a photograph on one of the worst days of their life for us to show you that something meaningful happened.
No child had to become the face of a disaster.
No family had to perform their grief.
The numbers tell part of the story.
The warehouse tells part of the story.
And the rest is found in hundreds of people quietly deciding, I can help with that.
August was the first month.
The donations were not the finish line. They gave us the ability to keep supporting families as they move from evacuation, to temporary housing, to rebuilding lives that suddenly look very different than they did before.
One month in. Recovery continues.
To every person who donated something, hosted a collection point, wrote a check, volunteered, transported supplies, opened warehouse space, offered storage, organized a fundraiser, shared a post, introduced us to someone who could help, or simply asked, โWhat do you need?โ
Thank you.
This is what happens when compassion meets action. ๐ปโค๏ธ
