A Note on the L.A. Wildfires and How to Help
Where to donate to maximize your impact.
Los Angeles is my hometown and, growing up, fires were a constant source of anxiety. One of my earliest memories is of watching helicopters drop water into my neighborhood in Laurel Canyon, from a rooftop playground in West Hollywood. Our home was, thankfully, spared back then, but it was a formative enough memory that echoes of those fears made it into my novel. My protagonist drives from the Palisades into Brentwood, forty years in the future, clocking the destruction from natural disasters that decimated the area. It’s a nightmare scenario that became a shocking and devastating reality this week.
Like many of you, I’ve been tracking the Palisades, Eaton, and other fires obsessively since Tuesday morning, refreshing feeds and checking on friends and family. (This site, Watch Duty, and the New York Times live page have provided fairly reliable updates.) My loved ones are all safe, but many have lost their homes. A close family member’s house is still under mandatory evacuation, and my best childhood friend tried to leave her apartment after a recommended evacuation, but couldn’t due to traffic (she’s safe now). My brother has been sending videos of flames licking the edges of Mandeville Canyon, from his apartment.
It’s difficult to comprehend the loss from the fires that are already considered some of the most destructive in California’s history—of lives, family homes, and irreplaceable mementos—and the ways in which Los Angeles will be changed from this disaster, as the fires still burn. To all of my L.A. readers, I am so deeply sorry. I hope you are staying safe. Here are a few resources, if you’re looking for opportunities to help:
To offer direct support, Visit the Mutual Aid L.A. network to mobilize and get the word out about aid resources.
To provide support to families, Baby2Baby is providing essentials to families at evacuation centers, the California Fire Foundation provides direct support to victims as does this direct relief fund, American Red Cross, and California Community Fund. Many families have created direct Go Fund Me accounts to recover from the loss (please leave a comment if you would like me to mention any here specifically).
To help families directly, Black and Latinx families were among the most impacted by the fires in Altadena—here is a GoFundMe for displaced Black families and Latinx families.
is also keeping a running list of Go Fund Me accounts at 20% of their goal or less—and I have a list below, for families in our broader Morning Person community. Comment or email me to have yours added.Here’s a list of brands providing products for families impacted, organized by Julia Beilman.
To support the first responders (many of whom have gone days without sleep, to fight the fires), donate to the LAFD Emergency Fund. The World Central Kitchen is offering meals to evacuees and first responders.
To help animals, go to the Pasadena Humane Society (here’s a resource for lost and found pets in L.A.) and the LaBelle Foundation which is sheltering dogs. You can also offer your home to a dog in need via the Canine Rescue Club.
For those who have not been impacted,
has advice on how to prepare for a disaster of this scale—digitize your photos, make a mental go list, and get to know your neighbors.My friend Lucy (who I interviewed here) posted this to her Instagram for helping first responders:
If you have any more resources, please use the comments today to share them. x
I’ll be adding ‘Go Fund Me’ Links from Morning Person Readers here—feel free to comment, DM, or email to send them to me:
From Malia. My mom lost her house and our family home of 25 years. Everything is gone. Our childhood photos and home movies, my grandmas handwritten cookbook…just an endless list of irreplaceable things. It’s heartbreaking. Donate here.
From Matt. If you are at all feeling generous or curious about the lovely folks that represent the amazing community in Altadena: My family lost their home and my mom’s 1 day old new venture into needle point picture framing in a brand new garage studio burned without 1 days work. It was a six month build out in their dream home and have been leveled. Big love. Donate here.
From Sarah. This is a devastating time for so many, and still it continues. If you could post the link to the gofundme for my dear friends John and Sara, I would be grateful. They found out they lost their home in Altadena the morning of their daughter's 12th birthday. Donate here.
From Jessica F. A young family I know lost their home in the eaton fire in Altadena and now are displaced with their 2 yo son and dog. They are some of the most benevolent people I know and will be distributing extra donations to neighbors around them since the neighborhood was leveled. Donate here.
From Jessica W. My high school volleyball coach and her family lost everything. Donate here.
From Tina. My friend’s coworker lost her home of 35 years in Altadena. Donate here.
From Betty. A college alumni friend lost her family home. Donate here.
I’ll add more here as you share them with me—lots in the chat below!