SLO County community raised $68,000 to help flood victims. Here’s where money will go
Community members raised more than $68,000 to help Los Osos residents whose homes were damaged during winter flooding.
Now those funds are being distributed to those in need.
On Feb. 4, the Kiwanis Club of Bay Osos hosted a barbecue in the Grocery Outlet parking lot that raised $8,200.
The Diggin’ Deeper fundraiser, organized by Gary Freiberg and Paul Irving, was held on Feb. 26. That benefit concert and silent auction raised $45,286.52.
Local nonprofit organization South Bay Seniors People Helping People was tasked with holding and distributing the $53,486 raised by the two fundraisers, according to group president Richard Margetson.
People Helping People added more than $14,000 from its reserves, bringing the total to more than $68,000, Margetson said.
“We saw that the need was greater than the funds that we had from the two fundraisers,” he said.
The Los Osos Emergency Coalition decided how to distribute the funds, according to Los Osos Community Services District president Chuck Cesena.
Margetson said the coalition distributed a survey to determine community members’ needs.
Respondents were asked to provide an estimate of total cleanup and construction costs after storm damage, describe their household’s needs — ranging from “adequate financial need” to “no resources” — and share how much of the damage would be covered by insurance, according to coalition member Andrea Leuker.
After analyzing the forms, People Helping People will distribute the money to a total of 17 homes damaged by flooding in Los Osos, Margetson said.
Cesena said 80% of the funding will go to residents of homes on Vista Court, while 20% will go to homes on Pine Avenue, Ash Street and Pecho Valley Road.
Organizers will mail some checks and deliver others by hand, Margetson said. All should arrive by the end of the week.
Los Osos flood fundraising criticized on Nextdoor
It’s been nearly five months since a storm pelted Los Osos on Jan. 9, crumbling a wall on the east end of a water detention basin owned by the Los Osos Community Services Department.
That caused water and mud to flood 25 homes below, resulting in more than $1 million worth of damage, Freiberg previously told The Tribune.
According to Margetson, it took months to distribute the funds raised for the Los Osos flood victims because People Helping People had to pass out surveys to impacted neighborhoods, review the surveys and then calculate how much money each household should receive according to need.
Some households responded on the surveys that they didn’t want to receive any donations, he said.
“We wanted to make sure that all the money was in and that we weren’t wasting any of it,” Margetson said.
The organization also had to wait weeks to receive donations that people pledged to pay during the Diggin’ Deeper fundraiser, he said.
Folks on the Nextdoor social media app criticized how long it has taken People Helping People to distribute the funds.
“WHERE’S THE MONEY?” Nextdoor user Barbara Lorenzen posted on April 17.
Vista Court resident Phyllis Schoonbeck echoed Lorenzen’s concerns.
Schoonbeck’s home was badly damaged by the flood in January, she said, and she’s still repairing her property, which has cost a considerable amount of money.
“If you have a fundraiser on the 26th of February, and it’s now almost May 1, when were you going to think it was going to be appropriate to release the funds?” Schoonbeck asked.
Schoonbeck said that some community members were upset that funding was distributed to Los Osos residents outside the Vista de Oro neighborhood, as a poster advertising the Diggin’ Deeper event only mentioned that neighborhood.
Margetson said that speakers at that event specified that funding would go to homes in other Los Osos neighborhoods as well.
“Some of them were just as damaged as some of the people on Vista Court,” Margetson said.
The Diggin’ Deeper fundraiser was designed to help anyone “affected by the rain events of January and February” in Los Osos, regardless of what street they lived on, he said.
Margetson said he’s proud of the community’s fundraising efforts.
“People just put aside their differences for this and came together to help,” Margetson said. “This was a wonderful outpouring of the community. I will defend what we did and what we’re doing until doomsday.”
Gary Orbeck, who has lived on Vista Court since 1976, said he’s nothing but proud of the way the community worked together to raise money for neighbors in need.
In January, floodwaters swept through Orbeck’s yard and seeped into his home, damaging the floors.
Orbeck said he had to replace his carpets and bathroom floors, resulting in nearly $30,000 in expenses.
Luckily, the Federal Emergency Management Agency and an insurance payment from the Los Osos Community Services District covered the costs of repairs, so he declined any donations from People Helping People, he said.
Orbeck said donating to folks in other Los Osos neighborhoods is the right thing to do.
“If people need help, that’s what (the money) should go,” Orbeck said.
Orbeck said he trusts People Helping People to divide the funds fairly.
“They’re gonna distribute the money in an equitable, fair way,” Orbeck said. “I just felt bad for the people that spent all this effort for that concert to get bad mouthed. They did a lot of work, and they’re still trying to do it as fairly as possible.”
Folks on Nextdoor also chimed in.
“Thank you very much for the hard work and time spent on helping,” Diana Bowlby posted on Nextdoor. “Many families were hurt and this compassion is so commendable. I love knowing that so much kindness abounds in Los Osos.”
This story was originally published April 30, 2023 at 10:58 AM.
