‘Broke my heart’: How Shaver Lake native, Clovis store are helping Creek Fire evacuees
Brianna Cutting went to work Tuesday morning at FoodMaxx in Clovis and had a hard time focusing because of the Creek Fire that is ravaging eastern Fresno and Madera counties.
This was hitting home for Cutting. She grew up in Shaver Lake. Her father and his wife live there and Cutting’s 4-year-old daughter was with them when they were forced to flee Labor Day weekend, joining about 45,000 Creek Fire evacuees.
“I talked to my manager and I said, ‘I don’t know what to do,’” Cutting said. “Cressman’s is gone.”
Twenty minutes later, she found inspiration: her husband, Michael, a stationary engineer for Fresno Madera Ice Company, texted to say people needed peanut butter and jelly, diapers and wipes.
“I told him, ‘Let me see what I can do,’” she said. “I told my manager and he asked, ‘How many people?’ and I told him, ‘I have no idea.’”
Cutting asked her manager if she could organize a charity drive. He agreed. Coworkers volunteered to help pay for the purchases — at a wholesale price for at least two weeks.
Vendors chipped in and donated pallets of perishables, supplies, water, bread, peanut butter, jelly and diapers.
Cutting packed her manager’s truck and delivered the items to Clovis Hills Community Church to add to a larger charity drive for wildfire victims.
“There were a ton of people there and a bunch of them were praying,” she said. “It broke my heart seeing the parking lot full of RVs and people walking their dogs. My heart just broke.”
After delivering the items, she was told people evacuated to the Clovis North Educational Center needed diapers because they running short there, too. She took them diapers and other items.
“All of us at FoodMaxx are very proud of our employee, Brianna Cutting, who took it upon herself to spearhead a quick response to help the Creek Fire victims,” store manager Ryan Tipton said. “We were able to put together a pallet of non-perishable items and, out of her own pocket, Brianna included diapers and wipes. We helped her gather and deliver these urgently needed items to the nearby evacuation center. Brianna represents the best of our Clovis community and is a stellar FoodMaxx employee.”
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Cutting said she’ll continue to pray for the people affected and is glad the community is coming together to help each other.
“I can’t imagine the pain the people are going through,” she said. “I just wanted to do something to help. I have an awesome manager and the Save Mart community helped in such a big way. It was such a blessing.
“My heart goes out to the people in the community of Shaver Lake, Prather, Auberry.”
