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Staff Report
City Council
Item No. 3.D
Meeting Date: November 29, 2023
From: Anne Ambrose, Assistant City Manager
Title: Acceptance and Distribution of Donation from the Palm Springs Air Museum
City Council
RECOMMENDATION:
Staff recommends the City Council accept the donation of $10,630.80 from the Palm Springs Air Museum and redistribute the funds equally to Team Rubicon, Salvation Army, World Central Kitchen, the American Red Cross and Find Food Bank. Each organization would receive $2,126.16.
BACKGROUND:
The Palm Springs Air Museum (PSAM) has been a significant community partner that came to the assistance of Cathedral City residents immediately after Tropical Storm Hilary hit on August 20, 2023. Fred Bell, the Vice Chair of the PSAM and Cathedral City resident, reached out to the City’s Economic Development Director while the rains were still falling, and the mud began to flow to see how they could help. One of the immediate needs identified was the potential need for some short -term hotel stays to assist the residents most impacted by flooding or mud flows into their homes. The PSAM stood up a fund raiser to raise funds to help meet emergency housing or other immediate needs of some of the most impacted residents across the City. For donations over $200, the PSAM offered donors the opportunity to go for a ride in the museum’s C-47 Skytrain, (which usually is $125 each). In addition to individual donors, key significant donors included Visit Palm Springs, Door Dash and So uthern California Cal Gas.
Because of the fund -raising efforts of the PSAM, six displaced families were provided between 5 and 10 days of temporary hotel stays. Additionally, $2,000 in Door Dash gift cards were given to the City for distribution to impacted families across the City.
Also coming to the aid of the community was Team Rubicon, a veteran -led humanitarian organization serving global communities before, during and after disasters and crises. Team Rubicon deployed in the Horizon Neighborhood with 76 volunteers over 15 days. At the City’s direction, Team Rubicon hit the ground on August 25, 2023.
The City initially heard that Team Rubicon had not been able to secure donated rooms,
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so staff reached out to Mr. Bell and the PSAM donations were able to cover the rooms for the Team Rubicon volunteers. Staff had conversations with numerous Team Rubicon staff and volunteers who thanked PSAM for providing the hotel rooms during their deployment. Generally, Team Rubicon volunteers are housed in gymnasiums or other limited accommodations. The working conditions during their deployment in Cathedral City was very challenging with temperatures well over a hundred most if not all days, many volunteers not accustomed to being in the extreme temperatures of the Coachella Valley, and working in homes with several feet of mud that had to be cleared out before demo work could begin. Having a cool place to shower and rest was essential for the volunteers’ recovery to accomplish their mission.
DISCUSSION:
The fund -raising efforts of the PSAM brought in a total of $33,550 of which $12,979 went to room charges and $940.20 was for web site processing/service fees . The PSAM recently presented the City with two checks in the amount of $9,630.80 and $1,000 for a total of $10,630.80 returned to the City to distribute.
It is staff’s recommendation that the funding be distributed equally to five non-profit organizations that provided significant assistance to the Horizon Neighborhood residents and other community members most impacted by Tropical Storm. Those organizations are Team Rubicon, The Salvation Army, World Central Kitchen, the American Red Cross, and Find Food Bank.
Team Rubicon volunteers cleaned nine (9) homes, taking the walls down to the studs, mucked out 57 rooms and removed 8,945 square feet of drywall, 1,508 square feet of flooring, and 17.4k cubic feet of debris. The City provided dumpsters and moved off any mud that was put in the public right of way. The economic impact of the work Team Rubicon did for these local residents is estimated by Team Rubicon to be $120,000.
The estimated value of the cost of this debris removal from the public right of way is estimated to be approximately $452,000.
The Salvation Army, Cathedral City were onsite in the Horizon Neighborhood on August
23. Starting on August 23, they provided over 13 days of service, 208 hours of volunteer and staff time, served 55 families, 179 individuals, provided 43 food boxes (valued at $100 each), four gift cards, served 200 drinks, 138 snacks, and 100 lunches, provided counseling to 17 individuals, provided three ( 3) hotel vouchers, and other referrals.
World Central Kitchen (WCK) is a disaster response organization that is first to the frontlines providing meals in response to humanitarian, climate and community crises.
WCK had teams in Southern California, Las Vegas, and parts of Mexico stationed to assess and provide meals to communities impacted by Tropical Storm Hilary. They were in the Horizon Neighborhood early on after disaster struck to provide food to residents and volunteers. They worked with Trio Restaurant to prepare 250 hot meals for Panorama Park residents and volunteers. WCK coordinated with other restaurants such as Sandwich Spot and Santorini Gyro to provide meals for 250 per day in the immediate week after the storm.
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In addition, their team found out where the fourteen residents of a board and care facility who had been rescued by the Fire Department and a Burrtec heavy equipment operator were relocated. The WCK team reached out to them to gather a list of needed supplies and provided the displaced residents with everything on their list.
The American Red Cross also was a pivotal partner in Cathedral City. Red Cross provided direct assistance to a number of families in the most impacted neighborhoods, providing cash gift cards that could be used by residents for temporary housing or any other needs. The Red Cross participated in the Disaster Assistance Center hosted by Riverside County and Cathedral City to provide additional help or referral to regional families impacted from the storm.
On August 25, Find Food Bank , the Coachella Valley’s regional food bank, conducted an emergency mobile market distribution in Cathedral City to assist those affected by Tropical Storm Hilary. A second emergency mobile market was conducted on September 13 to provide additional assistance. Find Food Bank also dropped off pizzas to be delivered to Horizon residents and volunteers.
FISCAL IMPACT:
If approved, staff recommends that Salvation Army, World Central Kitchen American Red Cross and Find Food Bank each be given an equal distribution of $2,126.16 each from the remaining $10,630.80 in funds from the PSAM fund raiser.
FIVE-YEAR STRATEGIC PLAN:
Goal E: Safety
Objective: Cathedral City is safe for all who live, work, visit and play in our community.