This is a call out to every member of our community to assist monetarily — or via worthwhile, transportable foodstuffs, toys, etc. — with a grassroots effort from our community to LA.
We have started a GoFundMe page, which you can support, here.
Please contact Jonathan Dobson by phone (970-507-0754) or drop off donations at his business, Dobson Solar, at 144 14th Street, Pagosa Springs, with your donation. You can also send to P.O. Box 1871, 81147. You will receive a receipt for your donation.
Also, we will be departing on Thursday, January 23rd with everything we can bring on a truck and trailer to the first responders and victims of the fires in Los Angeles. The main thrust of our effort will be to purchase as many units as possible of ready- made sustainably sourced and packaged small batch meals from Farm to Summit (farmtosummit.com) of Durango. These are quality meals and they are not cheap even though the people at Farm to Summit are selling us product at reduced price.
Please respond as quickly as possible as we have a lot to organize in order to meet our deadline for departure with a full load. Upon return, a report will be made on what we accomplished together, shared with the community through this publication.
Everything we raise will be brought physically to the Pacific Palisades area and given out, with a sign erected that it is from us to them, until all donations are delivered in full.
This is the third major grassroots effort to mobilize assistance for disaster zones undertaken by Jonathan and Jonah Dobson of Archuleta County. Mention is made of this to let you know that you are dealing with people you can trust. The first was the delivery and installation of a full-scale back-up photovoltaic and battery power station to the San Miguel de Los Porres Assisted Living Center in Utuado, Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria in 2017, along with community member Doug Large “Grande”. We worked with the local Pagosa Mountain Morning Rotary Club of Pagosa Springs in accomplishing this.
The second assistance effort was the successful delivery in 2021 of a massive haul of donations to Mayfield and Dixon Hills, Kentucky, after the F-5 tornado that devastated the area that Christmas. This was undertaken in partnership with the local chapter of Cub Scouts Troop 807. Both of these efforts were carried out with great success.
The present undertaking is a citizen’s effort only. All expenses for the trip itself will be covered by Dobson Solar; your donation will go directly to the first responders and communities victimized by the fires. Please entrust us with your donation and help make Pagosa proud! We do this in part because, you never know, one day it could be us in need of this kind of help.
Please watch the opening monologue of the Jimmy Kimmel Show from the night of January 13: “We [heart] L.A.” to understand the spirit with which we are carrying out this endeavor. Thank you!
Jonathan Dobson
Pagosa Springs, CO