Fires Threaten Southern California, Mimi's Lends a Hand
12/14/2007
In October, devastating fires tore through Southern California, driving residents away, burning homes and destroying neighborhoods. Though no Mimi’s Cafe teammate lost their home, we were nonetheless affected by the tragedies. Stories of teammates pulling together, volunteering, donating food and even fighting the fires are numerous. These are just a few stories about our Mimi’s Cafe Family ...
Burning to within 5 miles of Mimi’s Cafe Lake Forest, the Santiago Fire made a big impact on the community. Displaced residents were evacuated to nearby El Toro High School. Manager Peter Becker, trainer Laura England and server Harriet Henderson, helped prepare and deliver 50 sandwiches to the center. The next morning, Lake Forest, along with sister restaurant Laguna Niguel, combined their food donations so Lake Forest could prepare breakfast for 300 people. “It was truly a team effort!” Peter said.
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger arrived on scene as the donations were being delivered to El Toro, acknowledged the contribution and thanked them for their efforts. Laguna Niguel also provided sandwiches for the crew manning the fire relief station at Saddleback Church and at the fire relief station in nearby Foothill Ranch.
With the Witch Fire burning nearby, the team in Oceanside watched scores of guests pass through the restaurant as they stopped for a bite to eat, then made their way out of town. General Manger Chris Burke arranged for some of the evacuees to take food with them as they got back on the road for a long drive. The team donated hundreds of muffins to evacuation centers nearby, as well as to fire and police command centers. Server Mark Valdez, also a firefighter in Fallbrook, worked almost around the clock for four days. He had many stories of sacrifice and heartache, as well as triumph from those days.
Qualcomm Stadium was an evacuation center for many of the displaced residents of San Diego County. Santee Managing Partner Ken spent an evening at Qualcomm serving and helping people while his son, Kenny Jr., 11, spent the evening reading books to elderly evacuees.
With fires burning all around them, Mimi’s Cafe in Mira Mesa kept its doors open while many restaurants around them were closed. Manager David Embree, himself an evacuee, came in to work, knowing that the restaurant was very busy. General Manager Kevin Nevinger and manager Tom Strait worked extra shifts to accommodate the increase in business. Mira Mesa, along with Mission Valley, donated sandwiches to the Qualcomm Evacuation Center. Many teammates in the San Diego area worked extra shifts and even came in when they were off duty to help.
With fires affecting virtually every area in Southern California, market partners from all areas donated time, food and gift certificates to organizations volunteering with the fire relief efforts. Mike Barron reached out to 76 San Diego-area fire stations with gift certificates for the firefighters. Tom Patterson sent 17 packages to the Irvine Fire Department and nearby Orange County fire stations. He also provided gift certificates for the firefighters. Carlos Garay and his team reached out to fire stations in the greater Los Angeles area with letters of appreciation and gift certificates.
The Buckweed Fire burned near the Mimi’s in Valencia. The team delivered muffins to the shelter at Saugus High School and to the firefighters stationed at a local park. The day servers pitched in and worked doubles for two days for the crew that couldn’t make it to the restaurant because of the fires. Debbie Clark, Mark Notterman, Aubrey Paine, Vanessa Medina and Candace Gonsoulin were among the teammates who pitched in.
Though he had closed the restaurant the night before, Anaheim/Harbor server Todd Marsden arrived at the Honda Center in Anaheim at 5 a.m., where the Red Cross had set up a command center. He accepted donations from the public on behalf of Red Cross, while Market Partner Steve Shaw brought muffins, fruit and juice to the Red Cross volunteers.
