LOS ANGELES – Just a few weeks ago, the 9ThirtyLA venue in the downtown Arts District was known as a hot event venue, its wood beams and concrete floors serving as the perfect backdrop for concerts, corporate parties and further.
But after fires began to ravage the Los Angeles region, community organizers and a wave of volunteers turned an industrial site into a makeshift shelter, with beds and tables filled with essential items such as hygiene products and clothing. With the help of local organizations (LoveChild Hospitality, the ANE Foundation, ImpactLA and the AFTP Foundation), the location has become one of countless created throughout the region to help wildfire evacuees cope with the devastation.
“The beautiful thing is that our community has offered so much that we now have this entire warehouse of things that could be a great starting point for someone who just lost everything,” said Waseel Amoura, organizer of the 9ThirtyLA event.
Feeling helpless in the face of the devastating natural disaster that killed at least 24 people and devastated 40,000 acres in the greater Los Angeles area, many Angelenos like Amoura have rushed to help those in need.
In all corners of the region, people have been organizing drives for essential and non-essential items, collaborating with nonprofit groups that have served the area for years, and converting community spaces (like local YMCAs) and mass venues (like Santa Anita Park) at donation centers. filled with seemingly endless piles and boxes of donations to sort through. Some have organized food drives to deliver fresh meals and snacks to first responders and evacuees. Others have mobilized to put together aid packages for those in need. Animal shelters and rescue organizations have also been inundated with donations and volunteers to help support the influx of animals taken in during the wildfires. And restaurants have continued to offer free meals to first responders, and some have also organized their own donation drives.
It’s been a widespread effort, fueled by social media, that has no clear leader but many: from celebrities and influencers to regular people, all walks of life have come together to support the city and region they call home .
Across Los Angeles County, people have been amplifying wildfire survivors’ fundraising campaigns by sharing posts from organizations that accept donations and volunteers. Many have circulated a regularly updated master spreadsheet of volunteer opportunities that was created by the Mutual Aid Los Angeles Network, which shares mutual aid efforts and resources. Another popular spreadsheet created by an online user has also been put online, with similar updates. As people flocked to help, the “Volunteers Needed” label at many of those locations quickly changed to “FULL TODAY.”
Adrienne Nicole Edwards, founder of the homeless aid organization ANE Foundation, said volunteer professionals are available to provide services such as haircuts and therapy, while real estate agents also fly in from New York to help people. navigate your new housing needs.
Local real estate agents have also been posting on social media, helping those who have lost their homes find new spaces to rent and working to help provide them with furniture when they get on their feet.
On Monday at 9ThirtyLA, dozens of volunteers gathered at the door of the trailer of a U-Haul truck that had just arrived, packed to the brim with boxes of donations for evacuees. Box by box, they unloaded the truck and began sorting everything from makeup to bedding.
In the shelter area, mattresses are equipped with fresh seats, and on top of them are unopened sets of bedding. The facility also has hot meals from local restaurants and a refrigerator is available to keep medications cold.
“I just try to make it comfortable. You have to give people their space, and you have to make room for their personal things,” Edwards said, adding: “We have pallets of new sheets for people to choose from. Some people prefer a certain color combination. That’s why we want to give people that sense of normality back.”
Across Los Angeles County in Altadena, where the Eaton Fire has severely impacted the community, many grassroots relief efforts were also underway. One of the largest efforts was organized by a 14-year-old high school student named Avery Colvert, who founded “Altadena Girls” to help collect beauty and hair care products for affected teenage girls in the area.
Within days, their organization gained viral traction, with celebrities like Paris Hilton and Charli XCX sharing the campaign and visitors like James Charles coming to help as volunteers. In a social media post Monday showing bins and bags of donations stacked on the street outside the donation site, Altadena Girls announced that it was “more than full” of donations.
On Monday, several other locals formed Altadena Teen Boys Fire Recovery, inspired by Colvert.
The organizations have joined other existing community efforts, including the Pasadena Community Employment Center, which is recruiting volunteers to sweep debris from the streets.
County residents are also continuing to drop off donation bags at pop-up locations throughout the area.
On the west side of Los Angeles, which was hit hard by the Palisades Fire, wildfire relief efforts at places like the Westchester Family YMCA have placed piles of clothing, canned food and other essential items for evacuees to pick up.
Read more of NBC’s Los Angeles wildfire coverage:
Baby2Baby, a nonprofit on Culver City’s west side, also said it has been working with “470 partner organizations in Los Angeles County, spanning schools, shelters and hospitals, to meet requests for essential items.” . Over the weekend, the organization, which meets the needs of children living in poverty, said it had provided “more than one million emergency supplies for the most vulnerable children and families who lost everything in the fires of Los Angeles, including diapers, food, formula, water.” , clothing, blankets and hygiene products, and we are committed to continuing this work over the coming weeks and months.”
In Lincoln Heights, on the east side of Los Angeles, similar efforts were underway at a thrift store operated by the international Catholic volunteer organization St. Vincent de Paul. Volunteers have spent days organizing donation transports and purchasing items to distribute to families affected by the wildfires.
In warehouse and office spaces separate from the main thrift store, volunteers sort collections of items into baskets for recipients. Katti Fernandez, director of Vincentian services for the organization, said people have been donating everything from curling irons to jewelry, children’s toys and board games.
“It’s unfortunate that this tragedy was necessary, but the beauty that came out of it is seeing what an incredible community we are, of people who just want to help and give to each other,” Fernandez said. “We’ve had people from San Bernardino, Orange County; one of my administrators here just got a call from New York. And so there is a great desire to be part of the effort, and it is just beautiful.”
Even amid the outpouring of goodwill, some organizers and volunteers say they have also noticed damaged or unusable donations arriving. Many online urge community members to donate only what they themselves would feel comfortable wearing.
As donation centers fill up quickly, Fernandez said, the most effective way to help may be through financial contributions rather than materials, especially since many families will need money to rebuild their homes. But he noted that the relief effort will be a marathon, not a sprint.
“Later they will need furniture. They’re going to need beds, appliances. The children just celebrated Christmas and opened incredible toys that they had been waiting for so much,” he said. “Those little comforting elements are going to be necessary for them to have a sense of normalcy.”
Meanwhile, the Westchester Y urged people to continue the volunteer push.
“We anticipate fewer volunteers and donations during the week, due to work and other obligations,” he wrote on Instagram. “Please try to spare some time, energy or resources to help us!”
