The Community Foundation of St. Clair County has ended the current use of its Disaster Response Fund, which had been activated in response to the major fire in East China Township on January 26th.
“In consultation with local officials, residents and partners, we have ended our involvement in the response to the fire last January,” said Patti Manley, the Board Chair of the Community Foundation.
The Foundation reported that it received $23,567 in gifts to support the response and spent $24,636 in direct services and support. The Foundation donated the costs of its own staff who supported relief efforts from the very first day. “The Foundation is fortunate to have the capacity to donate our staff on behalf of the community,” added Manley. “Every dollar we received in response to the fire in East China was spent on supporting the victims of that fire.”
The Foundation’s Disaster Response Fund was just opened back in 2024 so that the Foundation, local communities and first responders were better prepared to provide immediate and unrestricted financial support in the event of just such an event.
Justin Westmiller is the Director of Homeland Security and Emergency Management for St. Clair County and was involved in the preliminary discussions that led to the Foundation establishing their Disaster Response Fund. “First, we’re so thankful that no lives were lost in this fire,” he said. “The bravery of the first responding officers and personnel was inspiring. And we are so thankful that our Community Foundation took the initiative just last year to create this fund. I really feel we have a model for every other county in Michigan to follow,” Westmiller added.
The Community Foundation was motivated to start the fund due to the increasing number of natural and man-made disasters. The process and procedures the Foundation put in place were modeled and benchmarked from other communities and other community foundations.
“We hope to never have to dip into this fund again,” said Manley. “But if another disaster strikes our region, we are ready and able to respond.”
More information about the Disaster Response Fund can be found at: sccstrong.org