Welcome!

Welcome to the blog of Merrilee Boyack. I decided I had to blog or my brain would blow up with everything running around inside. I'm a Latter-day Saint woman, happy wife, weird mother of 4 sons (16-26), lawyer, Poway City Councilwoman, author, professional lecturer, life coach, frighteningly lame cook, and voracious reader. I live in Poway, CA but grew up in Detroit, MI.

I am coordinating the efforts of over 40 volunteer organizations with the Community Fire Relief Team. We stand ready to help!!


Another Crucial To-Do

While we’re at it - giving out unsolicited personal advice . . . may I recommend doing your estate planning??

Last month my friend’s brother dropped dead at age 48 with no apparent cause . . . .
One of the fire victims had a massive stroke and died . . . .
And a friend was diagnosed with lung cancer and was gone in two weeks . . . .
And another acquaintance was diagnosed with prostate cancer and was gone in a week . . . . .

LIFE IS SHORT!!!

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Insurance Update - Crucial Info!

UPDATE: So I got an e-mail from our city person who is coordinating with the fire families. . . . She says the building costs in Poway are closer to $250 for tract homes up to $400 for the custom homes. ARGH!!!! Increase your policies TODAY!!!!

It is always an eye opening experience to go through fire relief efforts when the families realize that 95% ARE UNDERINSURED. This time around some are underinsured OVER $1 MILLION.

So I called my insurance agent yesterday to check on my own personal insurance situation. And guess what, I WAS UNDERINSURED.
Now what’s interesting is I did the same thing after the Cedar fires and updated it but MY POLICY FAILED TO KEEP UP.

SO I HIGHLY RECOMMEND THAT YOU CALL YOUR INSURANCE AGENT TODAY.

Here are some questions to ask:

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Home Depot Discount for fire families

Home Depot is offering 10% off to all fire families. There are some rules:
1. You have to GO to Home Depot (I would highly suggest the Poway one - shortest lines!) and take your FEMA paperwork and a copy of your letter from your insurance company with your claim #.
2. Go to the Contractor Services Desk and register with them (I’d take a copy of the paperwork for them to keep just to make it fast and easy.)
3. Once you’re registered, you can shop at ANY Home Depot and get this deal.

They will then give you 10% off for any purchases under $2,500 (the amount has changed since the attached flyer.) For any purchases OVER that amount, it will be processed through their Contractor Services dept. and you would get a minimum of 10% and perhaps higher depending on what your are purchasing and in what amount. (If they come back with less than 10%, the store will cover the difference so it’s at least 10%).

You have the option of doing the paperwork with a fire relief coordinator or doing with Home Depot directly. (Hope I’ve gotten all this correctly. Be sure to ask them questions so you get the latest and straightest scoop! Thanks much to Home Depot!!

Enjoy!

Scholarships for fire family members

Please make sure people are aware of these scholarships. Please note that they are open to families or individuals who lost income as a result of the fires as well as those who lost homes. If they got the max $2,500 scholarship they could get up to $10,000 if they went to a 4 year college.

AFTER-THE-FIRES SCHOLARSHIP

Background: The After-the-Fires Scholarship was created through the generosity of various donors to provide financial assistance to residents who were affected by the 2007 wildfires in San Diego County.

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UPDATED: From the Mall to You: Brand New!

Update:

The corner where the church is located, which is right off the I-15 freeway at the Felicita exit, should have been labeled as the intersection of Felicita Road and Citracado Parkway, rather than Citrus Avenue.

A distribution of BRAND NEW - TAGS STILL ON clothing will occur for the fire families. If you have BRAND NEW - TAGS STILL ON clothing to donate, see the following message:

A MESSAGE FOR THE MANY GENEROUS SUPPORTERS OF THE WITCH CREEK FIRE RECOVERY PROCESS: As you all know, many families lost all of their clothing due to the Witch Creek Fire. Now, there is another wonderful opportunity ahead to assist them with their recovery process:

A generous allotment of BRAND NEW CLOTHING has been received from a major department store, and will be made available without charge to the Witch Creek fire survivors on SATURDAY, JANUARY 5, 2008, from 9:30 A.M. TO 2:00 P.M. at the Escondido South Stake Center, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. The event is being called: “FROM THE MALL TO YOU: BRAND NEW!” and is intended to lift the spirits of those families who lost so much.

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Adopt a “Fire” family still needs sponsors

Now I know some of you are still itching to do some serious Santa work!!! Or your companies are reconsidering the fabulous “distribute turkeys to all employees” policies . . . . Here’s your chance to do some MORE good!

Valerie sends the following:

The fire family adopt a family program still needs sponsor families (and yes, I know this is a short turn around). The problem we had was the families were slow in getting wish lists into the coordinator. Gift cards are fine; these are not all RB families, some are in the La Jolla Indian reservation. So please send this to any group/business organization you feel might be willing to step up on this. They would need to contact Becky Palenske at bpalenske@san.rr.com to get a family’s wish list and work out logistics.

Free Bikes for Fire Families

OK, here’s the deal on bikes.

RAMONA, JULIAN, VALLEY CENTER FAMILIES:
Ramona will be having a bike event sponsored by BIA for 200 bikes plus helmets. I will let you know WHEN that event will occur (it’ll be soon). Tell all Ramona fire families who have elementary aged children to contact their schools and make sure they’re on the list. IF you know of a home-schooled family in Ramona, have them contact ME. (and make sure all Ramona families have signed up with Bonnie Frede - the fire relief coordinator. You can get me their contact info and I can forward it). Bring your Red Cross card and photo ID.

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Today’s Assignments

Well good morning to everyone! I slept in today all the way until 6:30 so that was nice! And my cold is almost gone so that’s a miracle!!! I swear half the city is sick! So here’s a few things to cover today:

1. Health is a HUGE issue for everyone. Already one of the fire victims has passed away due to a massive stroke. Your bodies have been under an ENORMOUS shock. So the goal for everyone is to REALLY pay attention to your health!!! Take Airborne, get enough sleep, try to eat your fruits and veggies and try to get exercise (getting the run around-check!, racing around like a chicken with my head cut off - check!) Seriously, it would be well to get a complete physical if it’s time and to REALLY pay attention to this one. I won’t regale you with the negative stories but let’s just say that this is a big hit to your health and you need to watch that closely.

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TheFiredUpSisters next meeting

Fired Up Sisters
Let’s Get Together!

Share information, resources and support with other women who are rebuilding!

Monday, December 17th
7:00 - 8:30 pm

Rancho Bernardo Swim and Tennis Club
16955 Bernardo Oaks Drive
Over 21 Room

All women whose homes were lost or damaged in the October fires are welcome to atttend.

If you have questions or need help with childcare or transportation, please let us know.

Kathryn Homer
858-451-0811

Renee Van Heel
858-225-4008

RBCPC Road to Recovery - December 17

From the Rancho Bernardo Community Presbyterian Church:

To assist you in recovering from the loss of your home, we would like to invite you to the following upcoming events.

Roadmap to Recovery #3

* Monday, December 17, RBCPC Sanctuary, 7:00 - 9:00 pm.
* FEMA, Red Cross and the San Diego County Bar Assoc (SDCBA) will speak.
* Topics include programs offered, registration for benefits, and appealing FEMA claims.
* Free childcare at the church by reservation: Contact Dawn Fortier at (858) 487-0811 ext 263 or (858) 583-4869 to make a reservation.

Everyone affected by the October Firestorms (suffered loss, damage, health issues, uninsured) should register now with FEMA/Red Cross before the registration period ends in early January.

The Road to Recovery series resumes Thursday Jan 10, 2008 @ 7 pm. Weekly topics will be:
* Jan 10th: Non-litigation strategies for rebuilding/ Releasing funds from mortage loan to rebuild
* Jan 17th: Due diligence in choosing architect/builder, Contract guidelines, Adverse Possession law
* Jan 24th: Building Process from Viewpoint of city Building Depts (PRDs), HOAs
* Jan 31st: Q&A with Brian Maienschien and State Dept of Insurance

There will be no supper offered Dec 17th or Jan 10th. All meetings are open to the public.
Breakout sessions are open only to Firestorm Survivors.

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