Matthew Smith skipped a term paper and a midterm and spent a few extra hundred dollars this semester, but his motivations are anything but careless.

When wildfires broke out in northern California on Oct. 8 and 9, destroying millions of dollars in public and private land and resulting in 42 casualties, a group of eight University of California, Berkeley students took action. The students set out to aid in relief for those affected by the natural disaster, and they’ve so far raised more than $800.

Smith is a senior studying social welfare at UC Berkeley. A veteran of the United States Marine Corps, his personal mantra is that “there are more important things in life than school, and that’s… human beings in general.”

Smith’s views were apparent in the immediate aftermath of the wildfires, including destruction in the city of Santa Rosa and the surrounding area that Smith has called home since 2011. The veteran posted in a student Facebook group asking for help with relief efforts at shelters in the Santa Rosa area.

Senior Jose Ramos Mora was one of the fellow student veterans who joined Smith.

“(Matt) was going up there pretty much every day the whole week,” Ramos Mora said. “I knew what I was going to do.”

Joined by two students from nearby San Francisco State University, the UC Berkeley students were assigned some unexpected work. They were tasked with sanitizing the restrooms at shelters in the Santa Rosa area.

But Smith understood the importance of the job. With the volume of refugees and confined space, diseases can be spread and infect the most vulnerable of victims: children and the elderly.

Smith said it will take years for the region’s economy to recover and for affected people to rebuild their communities.

“This is California’s Katrina,” he said.

Effects of the wildfires have also placed a burden on the already depressed housing market in Santa Rosa.

“There was nowhere for people to move to or live or rent,” Smith said, “and now it’s even worse because we lost 5 percent of our housing.”

Ramos Mora noticed the widespread support he and his friends have received from volunteering, but said he was shocked when people began thanking them.

Smith said that the emotional damage from the wildfires is as great as the physical damage. He helped his girlfriend evacuate from the Santa Rosa area, and she is currently staying with him in Berkeley.

“She had to sleep with the light on because she was worried that she was going to have to evacuate,” Smith said. “We’re an hour south, so if she’s feeling that, then I’m guessing a lot more people are dealing with that fear.”

While the students’ work has been effective, Smith said he feels the most important issue now is raising money for relief efforts. Volunteers cannot solely rely on FEMA, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, he said, because the organization “is stretched to its limits” following the devastating Atlantic hurricane season.

Donations to relief efforts can be made at the California-based Redwood Credit Union’s North Bay Fire Relief website.

Published on October 23, 2017 at 9:19 pm

Contact Jordan: jslazins@syr.edu