As thousands of residents grapple with the devastation caused by a series of wildfires in L.A. County, people from all over Southern California are coming together to organize relief efforts.
Over the weekend, churches, cafes and community centers across the Eastside hosted their own donation drives to help those affected by the fires and power outages.
Scores of people drove up to donation hubs, unloading their cars stuffed with essentials like blankets, water bottles, and diapers while others helped sort and organize clothing, toys and toiletries.
For Lisa Marie Pimentel, Pasadena holds a special place in her heart. It’s her husband’s hometown and where they settled down for a few years after getting married. Seeing how wildfires have devastated the neighborhood, the couple who now live in Glendora, started looking for places to donate and support those affected.
Pimentel, 53, came across The Wall Las Memorias hub in Boyle Heights, a community health and wellness organization serving LGBTQ+ Latinos.
“I brought things that people aren’t always thinking about besides clothing. Coloring books, crayons, books for children to keep their mind busy and occupied,” Pimentel said.
A few steps away, as another group unloaded their car, donations spilled out of the backseat. Eleven-year-old Ammie Centeno came with her family from East L.A. carrying two bags with colorful children’s toys, diapers, canned goods and hygiene products to The Wall Las Memorias. The donations would later be taken to the Highland Park restaurant Nativo which would be in charge of distribution.
Donation hubs received food, clothes, hygiene products and more.
“I came here to donate some of our toys and food supplies to people who lost their homes in the fire,” said Centeno “It’s important to donate because some people lost their homes and they don’t have anything and for us, we have a lot of things so we could share it with people who don’t have anything.”
Just two miles east from The Wall, InnerCity Struggle, a community advocacy nonprofit, hosted a donation drop-off for those affected by the fires and those on the Eastside who dealt with power outages and poor air quality.
The organization’s offices on Whittier Boulevard had meeting rooms were stacked high with cases of water, bags of dog kibble, and boxes of N95 masks, among many groceries. They’d been receiving donations from people all over the city.
There, Divine-Faith Johnson began unloading bags of feminine hygiene products and cases of water from her car. The 23-year-old grew up in Altadena and Pasadena and has family members in Malibu. The stress these communities were under was heartbreaking, she said.
“I’m volunteering and driving anywhere across L.A. that needs me,” Johnson said. “There’s a lot of need for water and feminine hygiene products… I mean everyone needs everything. When you lose everything, you need as much as you can get.”
Johnson saw the community uniting to assist those in need as a display of resilience among Angelenos. The West Hollywood resident called the mobilization “galvanizing.”
Volunteers come far and wide to support efforts in Boyle Heights.
“I think it says a lot about L.A. to outsiders who may think L.A. is superficial but when we need to come together as a community we do,” Johnson said. “Even in communities that aren’t hit, just seeing the amount of people and folks that are coming together to support people that they don’t know and will never meet is extremely heart-warming and honestly a blessing. It’s one of the more positive things that come out of this.”
Community aid is exactly what L.A. City Councilmember Ysabel Jurado depended on when she helped organize donation events across Council District 14 after the fires broke out across L.A. County. Jurado hosted a donation drop-off Friday at Boyle Heights City Hall and had to halt donations after receiving hundreds of items of clothing, food and blankets from people across Los Angeles.
On Monday more than 30 community members arrived to volunteer and help sort clothing and load it into boxes for distribution. Jurado said her office was focusing its efforts on Boyle Heights to use as its distribution hub for all of CD 14 because of its central location and distance to the wildfires.
“We’ve seen a groundswell of support. There’s been so much, whether it’s hygiene products, whether it’s food or blankets or clothes. It’s so crucial to the work we want to do to remedy houselessness and homelessness, as well,” Jurado said.
Jurado said her team is in the process of making a list of organizations where they intend to donate the boxes of clothes, blankets and food as she continues to build out her office staff to better serve the district of a quarter million people.
Viva Padilla, a Boyle Heights resident and local activist, arrived at Boyle Heights City Hall around 11 a.m. on Monday and began leading teams of other volunteers to help fold and organize clothing.
“Today, I’m showing up for Boyle Heights. I’m helping people sort through clothes because clothing is essential. I’m happy to see this happen,” she said.
Among the volunteers was David Anguiano and his mother Alicia. While taking a break from sorting through clothes, Anguiano laughed as he admitted he invited his mom without her knowing what she had signed up for.
He said he sympathized with the people impacted by the fires and felt a sense of responsibility to give back in these difficult times.
“I think it’s good to pay it forward. I think if we were in a situation, we’d be very grateful to accept help,” Anguiano said. “We’re just trying to do our best to help.”
