Major fires across Los Angeles this week have killed at least five people, forced 180,000 to flee their homes, and destroyed thousands of structures
Since Jan. 7, fires across Los Angeles have killed dozens, forced tens of thousands to flee their homes, and destroyed more thousands of structures. Here are some of the organizations accepting support for those impacted:
Children
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Baby2Baby: The national nonprofit provides infant and kids supplies including diapers, formula and food. It’s accepting monetary donations to deliver goods to shelters, childcare centers, schools and low-income housing sites.
Boys and Girls Clubs of Malibu: The organization is offering free counseling, case management and resource referrals for area families. It's collecting donations to provide emergency grants and, when its facilities can safely reopen, it will create an emergency relief distribution center.
Project Camp: The Los Angeles-based organization runs trauma-informed pop-up day camps for children displaced or out of school due to natural disasters. It’s setting up multiple sites to help families impacted by the Palisades and Eaton fires, and is accepting monetary donations as well as volunteers to staff the camps.
Displaced Households
GiveDirectly: The cash-relief organization is raising money to give one-time cash payments of $3-to-$4,000 to people living in impacted zip codes who qualify for federal assistance programs like SNAP benefits. The group recently deployed a similar program for people impacted by Hurricane Helene.
GoFundMe.org: The crowdfunding platform’s nonprofit arm will use its Wildfire Recovery Fund to give $1,000 emergency grants to verified households that have lost homes, loved ones or property.
First responders and volunteers
California Fire Foundation: The foundation is supporting both firefighters responding to the Los Angeles fires as well as people affected.
Watch Duty: The nonprofit service provides real-time updates on wildfire activity, evacuations, shelters and more via its free app. The organization relies on donations and a team of 200 volunteers, gathering and vetting information from radio scanners and official sources, to do its work.
Essential workers
Inclusive Action for the City: The L.A. organization is collecting donations for its cash assistance program, which gives $500 to outdoor workers such as street vendors and landscapers living in the impacted areas who may lost work due to the fires.
Animals
Longterm recovery
California Community Foundation: The L.A.-based foundation's Wildfire Recovery Fund will address longterm recovery needs like temporary housing, rebuilding homes, mental health and medical care. It also provides updated equipment to firefighters and helps rebuild emergency communications systems. It is accepting cash donations and offers employee matching for companies, too.
HabitatLA: Its ReBUILD LA fund will be used to help rebuild homes, offer rental and mortgage assistance and temporary housing assistance, and supply home furnishings.
Team Rubicon and Samaritan's Purse: Both organizations will assist people who lost homes once cleanup begins. Team Rubicon plans to help clear debris and Samaritan's Purse will aid people sifting through debris to find personal belongings that may have survived the fire.
People you know
Friends and family who lost property may need cash, temporary housing, or emotional support. It's important to reach out delicately, without expectations for how or whether they will respond, said Dr. Adrienne Heinz, clinical research psychologist at the Department of Veterans Affairs National Center for PTSD. Here are her tips:
1. It can be helpful to check in. It can be comforting to know that others are thinking about you and want to lend their support. An example: “I’m so sorry for what has happened to your community. There aren’t really words to describe how sad this is. Can I send your family a meal tonight? I’m here for you and will keep checking in. No pressure to respond.”
2. Offer concrete ways of helping like lodging, gift cards, meals, childcare.
3. Give them grace. They may not be able to respond for a number of reasons.
4. Refrain from phrases that minimize or invalidate their experience, like “At least you’re alive,” or “Everything happens for a reason.” Just because someone didn’t lose their home, doesn’t mean they aren’t hurting. The entire community is still enduring a stressful and likely traumatic event.
Associated Press coverage of philanthropy and nonprofits receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content. For all of AP’s philanthropy coverage, visit https://apnews.com/hub/philanthropy.
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