Grandma lost everything in Paradise fires

Alyssa Hirabayashi has been a part of Citizen Hound for over a year. Many of you have likely met her, and it's easy to see that she's sweet, amiable, and a bit shy - it's not easy for her to ask for help. She didn't ask me, in fact. But her family needs it now, and I hope that our community can come together for her by making a lot of small donations into something big for her Grandma. 

Alyssa's Grandma, Carol Moore, just lost her home of 18 years in the Camp fire. Her insurance had lapsed from forgetting to pay it. She'd owned it outright along with everything in it. She had 5 minutes to grab what she could and go. She grabbed her yorkie, Lilly, a few items of clothing, and made it to safety. Everything else was burnt to the ground. A lifetime of family photos, so many including her late husband. Boxes of memories, old letters she'd had for decades, important documents, her entire wardrobe, all of it gone. But the thing that's struck her the most is the loss of her mother and her grandmother's recipes. She'd wanted to keep them in the family. At least she'd made it out with Lilly. 

Carol's sister, Angela Ellis, Alyssa's great aunt, also lost her home. She was able to wrangle her four dogs, Angel, Chloe, Bea, and her new puppy. Her beloved cat did not survive. 

Two sisters, two houses gone. Each of them is now staying with other family members in Sacramento, and not sure what to do next. One thing Carol knows is that she can't stay in Sacramento. It's been one week. One hell of a week. But she's not comfortable in a city, that's why she lived in Paradise, and she already wants to find somewhere away from the noise and movement to settle down for awhile and regroup. Even if it's Chico, or Modesto, as smoky as they still are.

Alyssa hasn’t been able to gather much information from her Grandma because every time she does talk about it Carol starts to cry, and Alyssa can’t take it. I think we've heard enough though to know that Carol and her sister need help. We're not asking for much. There's a lot of us in the Citizen Hound community and our extended networks. Many of us have very likely already donated elsewhere. Maybe you too have someone you know who was effected so directly. But if you're able to donate even a little we'll reach our goal, and help our fellow dog walker's family in their time of need.