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I grew up in West Los Angeles, right on the border of Pacific Palisades, and that irreplaceable town was a landscape of my childhood. The devastation there and in Altadena is almost beyond comprehension; but resilience really is a default setting in southern California, and in the past week an extraordinary number of relief and rebuilding initiatives have been mobilised. Here are some of the best ways to ensure your money reaches the people and organisations that need it most. MS

Support for the first responders

Incarcerated firefighters digging a containment line to combat the Palisades fire on 11 January © Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

The Los Angeles Fire Department Foundation and the Santa Monica Firefighters Relief Fund, both 501(c)3 non-profit charities, provide ongoing and long-term support to firefighters, including those injured or killed in the line of duty and their families. (With the former you can designate a specific station as the beneficiary of your donation; the Pacific Palisades’ is Station 69.) The LAFD also has an active Emergency Funding Alert that is funnelling financial donations directly into acquiring crucial equipment for firefighters on the front lines. Equipment budgets county-wide are currently only a tiny fraction of the overall budget, so these donations are especially vital right now.

California relies significantly on its incarcerated firefighters; nearly 1,000 of them have been on the frontlines in LA, earning between $5.80 and $10.24 a day to risk their lives saving others’ lives and livelihoods. The Anti-Recidivism Coalition has created a Firefighter Fund to provide for their immediate needs (food, shower trucks at fire perimeters, clothing and equipment) as well as medium- and longer-term ones: gym and strength-training equipment at the fire “camps” where they live, plus scholarships and interim assistance with food and rent costs for those pursuing professional firefighting careers post-reentry.


Food (and fan joy) for the displaced and evacuated

Jennifer Garner volunteers with World Central Kitchen at its site in Altadena on 9 January
Jennifer Garner volunteers with World Central Kitchen at its site in Altadena on 9 January © ZumaPress.com/MEGA

Schools, cafés, supermarkets and restaurants are among the 12,000 structures that have been destroyed across almost 60 square miles of greater Los Angeles. José Andrés’s World Central Kitchen was one of the first to set up operations at the Palisades Fire perimeter, enlisting partner chefs, food trucks and suppliers to provide hot meals to both first responders (firefighters and EMT and medical personnel) and evacuees. The WCK’s crew has been flanked by some fairly high-vis volunteers, among them Jennifer Garner, celebrity chef (and WCK Chef Corps member) Tyler Florence, and Prince Harry.

The Los Angeles Regional Food Bank has (gratifyingly) inundated with food donations. Another effective way to help them now is money donations for distribution, which can be easily made on the site. Those in need can check the website’s Find Food and Pantry Locator page for information.


Safe harbour for animals

A dog loaded up ready to travel to Seattle on a Wings of Rescue flight on 12 January
A dog loaded up ready to travel to Seattle on a Wings of Rescue flight on 12 January © Drew A Kelley/MediaNews Group/Burbank Press-Telegram via Getty Images

Thousands of animals have been left homeless as a result of the fires. The Pasadena Humane Society has taken in more than 700 of them from the Eaton fire alone, and helped transport water to stranded cows and horses, while at the Los Angeles County Animal Care Foundation, they’re being fed, sheltered and treated for burns or injuries. Meanwhile, interstate shelters and societies are helping to manage the overflow, aided by the non-profit Best Friends Animal Society in partnership with the extraordinary donation-aided charity Wings of Rescue, whose pilots transport abandoned and at-risk pets from disaster areas to safety. On 11 January, 58 cats and 26 dogs were flown to the Best Friends sanctuary in Kanab, Utah – the largest no-kill sanctuary in the US.


Discounted beds for needy heads

A bedroom at Le Petit Pali inn in Brentwood on LA’s Sunset Boulevard; Palisociety is offering  discounted rates, free breakfast and waived pet fees at eight Pali properties across Los Angeles
A bedroom at Le Petit Pali inn in Brentwood on LA’s Sunset Boulevard; Palisociety is offering discounted rates, free breakfast and waived pet fees at eight Pali properties across Los Angeles

Not surprisingly, the local hospitality community has stepped up to provide support to evacuees and first responders in the best ways it can: discounted stays, free meals, and fundraisers. Avi Brosh named Palisociety, his boutique hotel group, after the neighbourhood he used to live in and still loves; he was among the first to offer discounted rates, free coffee and waived pet fees to evacuees at eight Pali properties across the Los Angeles area. This week he has made rooms available for three-night stays free of charge, including at the brand-new Le Petit Pali in Brentwood, which opened just months ago. Local evacuees and first responders will be able to check the website for availability and updates on longer-term offers. Among the others also providing harbour: The West Hollywood Edition, which is offering discounted rates for extended stays (in an area that has evaded fire impact entirely); and The Georgian Hotel, Santa Monica’s Ocean Avenue gem, where longer-term preferential rates are being offered to evacuees. Worth rewarding the good actors down the line, if your 2025 travel plans will include LA.


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