Pacific Palisades resident and real estate developer Don Griffin discusses how California will rebuild after the wildfires on ‘FOX Business Live.’
A group of California women are organizing a free shopping event for Los Angeles fire victims and first responders, teaming up with more than a dozen companies to donate items ranging from clothing to personal care products.
Jessica Lopez, Kelly Lopez, Emily Capretta, Danielle Hutchinson, and Michelle Spears simultaneously raised $100,000 to help families rebuild their lives in just a few days.
Four of them, including Jessica Lopez, Kelly Lopez, Emily Capretta, first joined after the Woolsey Fire wiped out their community and displaced many families. The four didn’t have much experience organizing an event, but using their knowledge and resources, they provided a hot meal, raised $150,000 in funds and helped provide families with the supplies they needed to start over.
CALIFORNIA WILDFIRES: IMPORTANT PHONE NUMBERS FOR LOS ANGELES RESIDENTS AND HOW TO HELP
After a series of fires raged across Los Angeles last week, destroying more than 12,300 homes and buildings and leaving at least 16 people dead, a group of women is resuming their efforts. This time they worked with a non-profit organization, California Strong, which was founded shortly after their first step, and the YMCA.
(L to R) Danielle Hutchison, Jessica Lopez, Emily Capretta, Fabienne Garber, Kelly Lopez. Not pictured is Michelle Spears. This is a group of women who come together to help fire victims get resources and money to rebuild their lives. (Jess Lopez)
In 2018, “we were completely bootstraps. We didn’t know anything. We weren’t event planners. This isn’t what we do for a living. We’re not fundraisers, but we just got fired up with this urgent need to help,” Jessica Lopez said. FOX business.
Jessica Lopez said they planned something similar a few years ago. However, they had the same motivation to help. “Our team was like, ‘Okay, let’s do it again,'” she said.
On Jan. 18, the group will start the LA Relief Fire event at Capretta’s Proactive Sports Performance Center in Westlake Village, so that families can “get everything they need to start filling in all the things they lost,” said Jessica Lopez.
CALIFORNIA WILDFIRES RAGE ACROSS LOS ANGELES COUNTY, FORCING THOUSANDS TO ESCAPE THEIR HOMES
Fire victims need to RSVP to the event first.
We want this to be a beautiful moment within a broken heart
On Saturday, between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m., PST, victims who have lost their home completely or are unable to stay at home due to fire-related hazards will be required to “shop” for all of the goods and services they use. can carry physically.
Everything is brand new and donated by major brands like Lululemon, CalPak, Cotton On, and the community.
Products include a range of items such as clothing, shoes, food, pet food, toiletries, toys and gift cards.
Items collected for the LA Fire Relief event starting Jan. 18. (Emily Capretta)
The team also creates “swag bags” specifically for first responders who put their lives on the line to help save the community. These will be filled with a range of products from local and national brands such as Herbalife, Stonefire Grill, Zevia, Autumn Headwear, Next Health Recovery, Celsius, Athletic Nicotine, SANS, Monster Energy and Sann Supplements.
However, the event will also offer many recovery services on site, such as trauma therapists and real estate agents ready to help with rentals and housing. There will also be a photographer on site so victims can replace family photos that may have been lost in the fire.
Music will be provided and played throughout the event.
“When a lot of people lose everything, and they go to these facilities, it’s a little bit sad and overwhelming,” Capretta said. “We want this to be a good time in the heart.”
GET FOX BUSINESS ON THE GO BY CLICKING HERE
A photo of the first relief event after the Woolsey fire in 2018. (Burgundy Blue Photo/Ryan Caliendo)
Capretta said the beauty of this is that there are many people who have stepped up to help. In fact, they put out a volunteer form to help with parking all week and within five minutes the slots were filled. There is currently a waiting list of approximately 100 people who still want to help.
The group plans to begin distributing the $100,000 raised to families in the next few weeks in partnership with the YMCA.
They will use the YMCA process to verify recipients. However, unlike many other groups, Capretta said they “have the resources and funds to cut checks right away.”
Source link
