People

Tested by fire—once again

Gary Jander had no idea San Diego was catching on fire. Again.

Gary Jander stands at the same spot where the photo below was shot. Four years earlier, the Alpine, California, street behind him offered a horrific view of the Cedar Fire.

A view of the wildfires from 2003 as seen from the same street in Alpine, California. Read also: Chef dishes disaster delicacies: bologna, hotdogs

The Lake Murray, La Mesa, California, Kiwanian left the Key Leader camp in Julian, California, at noon Sunday, October 21, just missing the start of the Witch Creek fire. The blaze was soon raging out of control two miles from the camp, closing off main roads behind him, and forcing 85 Key Leader teens and chaperones who left 30 minutes later to take lengthy detours out of the area.

By 9 a.m. the next morning, Gary was deploying hundreds of Kiwanis volunteers to QualComm Stadium—normally home to the National Football League’s San Diego Chargers and Major League Baseball’s Padres—with cook stations, food, supplies, and manpower to help evacuees.

So much for going to work Monday.

“We were able to put boots on the ground within hours,” Gary says. “The Kiwanis role (in the relief efforts) was significant.”

Through Gary’s leadership skills and his army of Kiwanians, 15,000 evacuees staying at the football stadium on Monday and Tuesday were able to eat.

And it was no small feat. Gary and his crew of Kiwanians were confronted with constant roadblocks, from security guards not allowing food deliveries, to city officials who were unaware that Kiwanis already had obtained city permission and county health permits Monday morning to serve food.

“It was bureaucratic chaos at QualComm,” says Gary. “But Kiwanians were patient and worked around the obstacles. We still ended up serving 20,000 meals the first day.”

Gary, a lawyer, stayed in charge of the operation for the next 48 hours, coordinating hundreds of Kiwanis volunteers who served thousands of meals to the evacuees.

He knew what it is like to be displaced. The Jander family had been evacuated during the 2003 Cedar Fire, which came rather close to his suburban home near QualComm Stadium. That experience motivated him to keep serving total strangers 16 hours a day during the first few days of the 2007 fires.

“Kiwanians need to feel proud of the fact they didn’t quit,” Gary says. “They just kept serving. It was a Herculean effort by the volunteers.”—Lynn Seeden

The Kiwanis International Foundation’s Disaster Relief Fund continues to help southern California recover from the 2007 wildfire disaster. Donate via a secure online form or call 800-549-2647 or 1-317-875-8755.