Port Washington Store Brings 'Angels' To Fire-Torn Paradise

Port Washington business owner Joanna Lombardi has a fascination with angels. She owns a retail store on Shore Road called Angels on The Shore, where she sells antiques art, jewelry, chandeliers and, yes, angels.

She once wrote a newspaper article all about angels and their influence on history, religion and modern day pop culture.

"...Angels come to assist us in our personal needs, helping us cope with our everyday life situations," she wrote in the article. "Their presence provides comfort and guidance."

Lombardi believes the residents in the town of Paradise in Northern California need an angel on their shoulder right now. The town of 27,000 was destroyed by the unprecedented Camp Fire earlier this month.

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"It's such devastation out there," Lombardi told Patch. "It's going to take 8 to 10 years before they straighten everything out. People are living in cars. It's just awful."

Despite being nearly 3,000 miles from the destroyed community, the Port Washington business owner of more than 25 years felt inclined to "bring the angels back to Paradise."

With her own money, she ordered 500 angel pins. The pins are set to arrive to her store during the first Tuesday or Wednesday of December. She hopes Port Washington residents can come to her store and donate at least one dollar to support the cause. Angels on the Shore is located at 11 Shore Road. The store is open from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. every day.

"Sometimes wearing an angel on your shoulder does bring back a lot of hope," Lombardi says. "And that's what is missing out there."

"People can help in different ways," she says. While food and money are coming in, and insurance will make sure many people get their homes back, a nonprofit leader helping the cause in Paradise told Lombardi what residents and volunteers also need: hope.

"I feel the people out there need to feel like a town again so they have something to look forward to," she says.

The pins are set to go to Paradise before the holiday season begins.

Images courtesy of Joanna Lombardi