The Warland Investment company from the Cypress Business Park has stepped up this week and donated $25,000 for the families from Cypress caught in the mandatory evacuation zone during last week’s Garden Grove Incident, according to District 5 Council member Rachel Strong Carnahan.
When emergency planners from the Orange County Fire Authority drew up concentric rings to be included in a potential blast impact area during the Garden Grove GKN chemical scare last week, streets in nearby Cypress that housed about 2,500 households were included in the mandatory evacuation area.
According to Strong, most of the residents affected by the incident and forced under a mandatory evacuation order to leave due to the city’s proximity to the Garden Grove incident were from District 5.
In addition, she said the Cypress Business Park is also located in District 5.
Courtesy photo
Strong was recently appointed to fill the vacant Council seat representing District 5 upon the resignation of former Mayor and Council member Scott Minikus.
“Hope Warschaw and Chip Robertson, the co-managing directors of Warland Investments, reached out to me to begin investigating with city staff how to provide immediate relief,” said Strong in an interview with ENE.
“Warland and I initially talked when the hazmat situation was unfolding,” said Strong.
“They decided to donate $25k in funds directly to the community and just needed a way to distribute that,” she said. “It is just such a genius idea,” she said, “they’ve been very consistent with donating to the community, being present and being part of things,” said Strong.
“This is just one more phase of that but incredibly generous,” said Strong.
“I contacted our city staff to find a means to do so. Jason Machado at City Hall under the direction of our City Manager Shannon DeLong was key in connecting us all with United Way as a means to distribute that money as well as gather and distribute other relief funds,” she said.
“I know the hotels were very expensive for some, while others left town to stay with relatives, and overall, this will give a chance to many of those evacuees who endured a financial burden to get reimbursed,” said Strong.
“I think the Garden Grove evacuation really made life complicated for so many people,” said Strong, noting that it affected people with pets “and we had people in shelters and all kinds of stuff going on, so I think this is a beautiful, magnanimous gesture to just show that they’re really partners with our community,” she said.
“I will be walking through the affected neighborhoods, about 2,500 households in the southern most part of the city, to ensure people are aware this is available,” the District 5 Council member said.
Cypress residents can donate now and call in to a hotline – 211 – to apply for relief. She said the link is live and ready for resident’s interaction.
“There are resources on the city webpage as well as their social media feed. I also have a feed for my district, which is available at @racheloncypresscitycouncil,” Strong said.