Lowe's Heroes volunteer to help associate who lost home to wildfire

Max Henson Updated
Max Henson

Staff Writer

Oct 14, 2020

For Lowe’s associate Jeanette Basco, being told to evacuate her home in Solano County was nothing new. The threat of a wildfire is something residents in Northern California have to be prepared for.

On August 19, Basco learned of the evacuation order and could see the glow of the fire coming over the hill behind her property. Still, the thought never crossed her mind that this would be the last time she would see her house.

“We’ve been evacuated a few times over the last 30 years here, and each time the house was always still there when we got back,” Basco said. 

“But not this time.”

Since the beginning of 2020, wildfires have burned over 3.1 million acres in California – an all-time record. That’s 26 times higher than the acres burned in 2019 for the same time period, according to the state of California. 

So many in California have lost their homes to the blaze. Communities across the state have been working to recover, and local Lowe’s stores have gotten involved to help.

Basco, who works at the Lowe’s in Vacaville, California, was on the receiving end of that assistance this past Saturday.

“Jeanette was planning on posting a sign-up sheet in her store to solicit help sorting anything the family wanted to keep,” Lowe’s district merchandising service manager Va’a Tuilesu said. “But we knew we could do better than that.”

Tuilesu helped organize a clean-up event at Basco’s property and over 50 volunteers turned out, with every store from the district represented.

 

 

The team of Lowe’s Heroes sifted through the ashes, sorted everything on the property and in doing so, helped Basco complete the first major step of the rebuilding process.

“Jeanette and her father were visibly moved when they saw how many Lowe’s associates showed up to lend a hand,” Tuilesu said.

Basco struggled to find the words to describe it.

“Overwhelming,” she said. “I was just so surprised how much got done.”

And there is still so much to do.

But Basco said her family is sticking to the mentality they’ve had for some time: “Deal with it and keep moving forward.”

And she’s getting help from a Lowe’s network of support she didn’t even know she had. 

“I’ve had gift cards sent in from stores in Minnesota, Arkansas, North Dakota – it’s coming from all over the place. How did they hear about this?” Basco said. “It’s been extremely impressive.”