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The Los Angeles wildfires, in the course of a week, killed at least 25 people, burned more than 30,000 acres, and displaced thousands of people and wildlife from their homes. It’s a difficult time for Los Angeles residents — and yet, even in the face of crisis, people are mobilizing to support those in need, especially in neighborhoods that have faced the brunt of destruction like the Pacific Palisades, Pasadena, and Altadena.
Across social media platforms, many people are sharing lists of organizations to donate to, links to GoFundMe campaigns, and places to volunteer. But in that deeply human, well-meaning intention to immediately help others comes a very real set of issues. In the aftermath of natural disasters, as Vox’s Jess Craig reported in Asheville, North Carolina, last year, resources are stretched thin, safety is a major concern, and the situation is developing and changing each day.
The nature of crises are also ripe moments for misinformation to spread. Pictures showing the Hollywood sign on fire (it never was) and rumors that the state turned away fire trucks from Oregon (proven to be not true) widely circulated. The inherent chaos of disasters also makes it easy for benevolent people to share outdated information, such as posts about donation drives that are no longer going on, that spread unintentionally. Now is the time to critically access information online before sharing to others.
But if sifting through dozens and dozens of campaigns feels overwhelming, don’t let that discourage you. If you want to help people affected by the wildfires in a meaningful way, take a minute to evaluate what aligns with your values — it can help you discern how you want to give. For instance, giving cash can be really effective in the short term, especially in low-income communities that could benefit from more support.
Here’s how you can navigate deciding whether to donate your money, items, or time, and what organizations you could give your resources to.
Deciding how and where to give
It’s easy to feel powerless when a crisis strikes and with so many calls to action in place. To figure out how you can personally help, think about if you’re trying to help immediately, in the long run, or (ideally) both.
For immediate relief, especially if you’re not local to Los Angeles, consider giving cash. Cash transfers can be simple but very effective. It allows survivors to respond to their exact needs, which they know best, in real time.
Giving money with no strings attached may help reduce poverty — though most studies on the effectiveness of cash transfers take place in low-income countries. But one study of cash giving after 2017 hurricanes in Texas and Puerto Rico showed a strong impact on stress reduction and avoiding debt for recipients from the cash transfers, and that nearly 90 percent of recipients expected to benefit from the transfers in a year’s time.
A little can go a long way.
“If you’ve got even just a few extra dollars here and there, don’t underestimate the good they can do,” Vox’s Sigal Samuel wrote in her advice column, answering a reader’s question about how to think about charitable giving when they feel like they don’t have a lot of money in the first place. “For instance, Miriam’s Kitchen, a DC-based nonprofit with a mission to end chronic homelessness, can serve a full meal to a person experiencing homelessness for just $1.25.”
Cash is great, but it’s not the only way to give, especially if you’re thinking of how to support people in the long term. If you’re local to Los Angeles, volunteering can get you embedded within groups that are supporting wildfire survivors. Building strong relationships with your fellow community members can ease the sense of chaos and powerlessness, and can empower you and your neighbors to combine your collective resources into action.
For anyone volunteering in a place that’s been hit by disaster, stay patient if you’re not immediately being brought in to help. Many of these groups have processes to get people onboarded, and are currently receiving an influx of volunteers. It may take some time before they can get to your volunteer application, but don’t let that discourage you — volunteers are going to be needed even after the wildfires have been contained and when the initial bursts of donations die down.
One way you can approach narrowing down where to give is by looking for well-established groups with clear community connections. Most of us aren’t experts on what to do during a crisis, but there are organizations — as big as national nonprofits and as local as community groups — that are well-equipped to transfer money, items, and other resources onto people in need. When deciding where to donate, look to groups with evidence of effectively providing relief, strong connections to the community, and sticking around in the long run.
Here are four organizations working on wildfire relief efforts with this approach in mind:
- California Community Foundation for general support.
- Altadena Girls is distributing clothes, hygiene supplies, and beauty products to help young girls affected by the fires feel normal again.
- Project Angel Food delivers meals to people with serious illnesses.
- World Central Kitchen is currently distributing hot meals to first responders and affected families at over 20 distribution sites across Los Angeles.
National nonprofits like GiveDirectly, which focuses on transferring cash directly to the world’s poorest people, also have the technological tools and connections to help. They’re running a fundraising campaign for low-income survivors of the Los Angeles wildfires, and have received over $478,000 in donations out of their $1 million goal. By partnering with food stamps management app Propel to target people in need as well as groups on the grounds, GiveDirectly is planning to give around $3,000 to $4,000 per family, said Tyler Hall, senior director of communications for GiveDirectly.
GiveDirectly doesn’t require recipients to craft a sympathetic narrative to receive money or to have a preexisting network of people to receive donations from, as inherently required by fundraising platforms. “It’s a way to get cash aid to those people who might not have packaged their story for one of those crowdsourcing websites,” Hall told Vox.
That’s where GoFundMe comes in. The crowdsourcing platform has become a major player for fundraising immediate needs in the US, especially in regards to disaster relief. GoFundMe has a page dedicated to wildfire survivors’ campaigns and a campaign run by its nonprofit branch that’s raised over $3.6 million.
But there are a few issues with individual crowdsourcing. One study found that wealthier disaster survivors are more likely to receive help than lower-income survivors on GoFundMe. There’s also individual concerns that fundraisers either aren’t a direct line of support for a victim or could end up being a grift (GoFundMe does offer full refunds in the case of fraudulent campaigns, which the company says is rare).
And there’s a decent chance that GoFundMes can disqualify survivors from receiving assistance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). Legally, FEMA cannot duplicate benefits a person receives from another source. “If you receive money from a GoFundMe page for a specific disaster-related expense — such as home repairs, funeral expenses, or other emergency needs — you may not be able to receive FEMA aid for the same expense,” reads the FEMA website.
These rules can put wildfire survivors in a tough situation between waiting for federal assistance or quickly receiving community funds. According to FEMA, applicants should receive notification within 10 days of their eligibility for assistance (which may not necessarily mean they’ll receive their money within 10 days, as FEMA relief recipients have posted about on Reddit). If you’ve lost your home and belongings, 10 days is a long time to go without immediate monetary relief.
You can also look out for organizations that align with your values. For instance, if you care about animals, look to the animal resource nonprofit Pasadena Humane. Over the course of a week, the organization taken in over 650 animals, said Kevin McManus, the group’s public relations and communications manager — a number that they typically get in a two-month period.
But McManus added that thanks to the support of the community and deep connections with groups like San Diego Humane, Best Friends LA, the ASPCA, the Red Cross, and others, they’ve been able to get animals the care they need. McManus said that monetary donations and signing up to foster are the best ways people can help right now.
Another local organization that has quickly mobilized the community is the Pasadena Community Job Center. Run by the National Day Laborer Organizing Network (NDLON), the center’s usual operations is connecting day laborers with prospective employers. The organization has been leading debris cleanups and handing out essential supplies to displaced residents, many of which have not lost just their homes but their jobs, said NDLON communications director Palmira Figueroa. The immigrant worker community quickly mobilized into action to help their neighbors after this intense loss.
“They talked about what they could do during this emergency,” Figueroa told Vox. That led to the creation of volunteer fire brigades to clean up debris and run donation drives. Figueroa said thousands of volunteers have helped so far, but there’s still a lot of work ahead. They’re still seeking volunteers, monetary donations, and in-kind donations.
There is no one-size-fits-all solution for supporting wildfire victims, and that disaster relief efforts will evolve and change in the coming weeks. As my colleague Kelsey Piper reported, disaster relief comes with logistical challenges. Certain roads and areas can be hard to access, charities and community groups can be overwhelmed with donations, and it’s easy for disorganization to rise in the chaos.
Wildfires in particular are long lasting and ever changing. It can take days or weeks to contain the fires, and they spread easily. So as the situation changes, as they often do during disasters, so do the needs. One day, a group may need cash and not physical donations; the next day, they may be putting out a call for supplies like toiletries or baby formula.
The Los Angeles wildfires will have long-term consequences on affected residents for months and years to come, long after this acute moment of need — and they’ll need support even when the news cycle has moved onto the next disaster. With that in mind, a good way to help in the long run is to follow trusted organizations on their social media platforms to stay up to date with their needs. A bonus step is to make monthly donations, so that groups can keep working on recovery efforts long after the fires have been contained.
Local mutual aid groups also have community connections and their finger on the pulse of what’s most needed, particularly during a crisis. These spaces can also be good for people looking for a long-term way to sustain community and help with recovery after the wildfires are over, whether it be volunteering in-person or donating monthly. Mutual Aid LA Network offers a list of mutual aid projects across Los Angeles — and its Instagram is an easy place to receive updates of volunteer and donation needs especially as the situation continues to evolve.
“We were thinking day by day by day, we were thinking hour by hour. Now it’s shifted to day by day,” McManus said. “Now we’re starting to look like, ‘Okay, what’s next week gonna look like? What’s the week after that gonna look like?’”
