Displaced Residents Seek Public’s Help

LAGUNA BEACH —  Victims of Monday’s devastating mudslide that damaged more than 200 houses and killed two men are asking for help to rebuild their homes and their lives.

Tangerine Bolen, who lost her home in the mudslide, made a plea for donations on behalf of 25 families she said were left homeless.

“Everybody has been so good to us, and we want to thank you,” Bolen, 27, said at a news conference on Friday. “Our first priority is to get a roof over our heads. A lot of us were renters, and we don’t even have the money to make a deposit on a new place to live.”

Bolen, who spoke in front of the home of one of the men who were killed, said the victims need money, furniture, apartments, clothes and food.

“We just need a first step,” she said.

Bolen said many of the victims want to continue living in Laguna Beach, but they may have to live in another area of the city.

“We all feel that Laguna Beach is our home, and we want to stay at home,” she said.

Check donations can be made payable to: Laguna Beach Chamber of Commerce Canyon Relief Fund, 357 Glenneyre St., Laguna Beach, CA 92651. Call (714) 494-1018, Ext. 5 for more information.

Checks and money also can be dropped off at the following banks:

* Bank of America, 299 Ocean Ave.

* Fidelity Federal Bank, 310 Glenneyre St.

* Orange National Bank, 800 Glenneyre St.

* Southern California Bank of Laguna Beach, 401 Glenneyre St.

* Wells Fargo Bank, 260 Ocean Ave.

* World Savings Bank, 250 Broadway.

Checks should be made out to Canyon Relief Fund, account No. 6221-976400.

Donations can be made to specific families or to the general fund. Locations for people to drop off clothes, food and other items have not been determined.