Lincoln County, NM (July 2, 2012): Hello Lincoln County and beyond! We wanted to update you on several things that are going on with regards to the ongoing recovery efforts and some preventative measures that are going on here with regards to the potential flooding hazard within the Bonito Watershed.

Little Bear Recovery Center

The Recovery Center has had a very busy few first weeks. Since we officially opened on June 23rd, we have had nearly 90 families that suffered loss of land and/or property come by and register with one of our case workers. We now have over 35 people who have volunteered their time and dedicated their hearts to helping the survivors of this incident as case workers! Each survivor who registers is assigned a caring associate that will help guide them through their own personal recovery process. We are thrilled to offer this service to our neighbors in need. If you are a survivor of the Little Bear Fire and have not registered with the Recovery Center, please come by the center and do so. You can also start the registration process online by clicking on the Survivor tab at the top of this page.

The Recovery Center is changing its hours. The new hours will be from 9am – 3pm Monday – Saturday.

Little Bear Donations Center

The Donations Center is in full operation! The Donation Center is located at 1940 Sudderth Drive in Ruidoso, NM right across the street from the Circle J Barbecue. If you have items that you would like to donate, please feel free to take them to the donation facility Monday through Friday from 9:00 AM to 7:00 PM, and Saturday 9:00 AM to 3:00 PM.   Please take note, both the Recovery Center and the Donation Center will be closed on July 4th.

Here are some guidelines for donations:

• As mentioned before, we are all set with clothing, so please do not donate clothes.
• If you are wanting to donate items to the Donations Center, please make sure the items are clean and in good working order. New or “like-new” items are the best choice. Remember that most of the survivor families have no means to clean or fix up items as they are currently displaced from their homes. If you have a lot of older items that can still fetch some money at a garage sale, please consider having a sale and then either donated the proceeds directly or purchasing new items to donate to the survivors. We appreciate you and your desire to give. Please help work together with us to provide the best assistance possible for our friends and neighbors in need. Thank you so very much for standing with us in this effort to help those in need.
• Survivors who are working on the recovery of their property are in need of tools (power and hand and garden), gloves and work boots.

Financial Donations

We have begun to receive some financial donations from various sources. Thanks to all of you that have given to the Little Bear Fire Fund at City Bank in Ruidoso or have clicked on our Donate button at the upper right side of this screen. 100% of all money donated to this fund will go directly to the benefit of the survivors. All administrative costs are being graciously covered with funds outside of this source so that we can make this promise. As the case managers identify the specific unmet needs of each family, your donations will play a critical part in this recovery effort. The more money we have to offer, the more complete of a recovery solution we can offer. Please carefully consider donating to these families today.

Volunteers

Many of you have taken the time already to fill out our volunteer forms on this site and have been connected with our volunteer coordination team. Thank you for your willingness to participate in this recovery effort. The full recovery may last for many months, so please be aware that the opportunity for you to use your specific skills may be today or it may be sometime in the future. But rest assured, our coordinators will contact you as the needs arise. If you want to volunteer and have not already done so, please fill out the online form here. Or simply visit the Little Bear Recovery Center on Hwy 48, 2 miles north of the Hwy 37 turn off.

There are some immediate needs relating to volunteer efforts in preparation for flood conditions that may arise with our monsoon season, especially along the flood plain of the Rio Bonito Watershed. Please see the following post to get information on how you can help with this effort: Sand Bag Fillers Needed

Also, as we have mentioned numerous times, we have the great privilege and blessing to host the Samaritan’s Purse Disaster Relief Team at the Angus Church of the Nazarene. This ministry still needs volunteers for the all important effort of assisting the survivors with sifting through debris and cleaning off their home sites. Please read the following post to get information about how you can help with these efforts: All Hands On Deck: Samaritan’s Purse Really Needs Our Help…

Stay Safe… Work Together