by Laine Himmelmann

Blue Shield of California employee Cheryl Mack, a program manager, also assists in running a year-round, free, community thrift store with friends in Santa Clarita. Like so many, after seeing the toll of the recent Southern California wildfires, she wanted to do what she could to help.
“Seeing the devastation in person, it’s overwhelming and heart-wrenching — it made me weep,” said Mack. “My friend’s 94-year-old aunt lost her home; she lived there for 62 years. There are so many stories like this one, people who've lost these generational homes.”
On January 12, Mack and her friends jumped into action, packing up all the items from their store into U-Haul trucks and vans and heading south.
“We set up a pop-up store for distribution and donation collection on the sidewalk, and the response was overwhelming,” said Mack. “We gave away almost everything, while also receiving a generous number of newly donated items.”
This past weekend, given the need and success of the first pop-up, Mack and her friends did it again — this time with helping hands from Blue Shield colleagues and families. They were also able to work in conjunction with the Congress of Racial Equality - California (CORE-CA), the annual Kingdom Day Parade organizers, who provided U-Haul trucks, supplies and support in getting the word out to the community.
“Blue Shield is the presenting sponsor for the Kingdom Day Parade and has been for the last eight years,” said Mack, who also volunteers on the parade committee. “When the parade couldn’t happen this weekend because of the fires, we thought, what better way to continue to partner and honor Dr. King’s commitment to service than to provide help where it’s needed?”
Together, the volunteers helped sort, separate and prepare over 500 bags of donated items. On Sunday, they opened the pop-up in Pasadena, distributing more than 1,600 items to community members, including clothes, school supplies, masks, hygiene items, diapers, blankets, portable phone chargers and more.
“Dr. King was about community and helping others," said Mack. “Doing this over Martin Luther King, Jr. weekend was significant because it honors his strong legacy and his commitment to community, serving the needs of others and showing unwavering compassion for all people with love.”

Blue Shield volunteers Sandie Schneider, Jane Nichol and Cheryl Mack

Bags of donated goods

Cheryl Mack on site

Helping those affected by the Southern California wildfires

Cheryl Mack, Carthel Towns from Community Closet, volunteers, and Kingdom Day Parade organizers Dr. Adrian Dove and Sabra Waddy

Dr. Adrian Dove, chairman of Kingdom Day Parade, and Cheryl Mack

One truckload of donated items

Cheryl Mack and Blue Shield volunteer Mashi Nyssen








Read more about how Blue Shield is offering assistance to its members affected by Southern California wildfires here.
Learn more about Blue Shield’s citizenship efforts at citizenship.blueshieldca.com and long-time support of the Kingdom Day Parade here.