By ALLI SCHIEBER
Editor-in-Chief
January 7, 2025, while that date might not mean anything to you that is the day that changed many Californians lives. That date is the day many wildfires started in southern California.
The fires are still burning as of Tuesday and according to the Los Angeles Times more than 250 billion dollars’ worth of damage have been done which makes it one of the costliest natural disasters in U.S history.
As of Jan. 24 28, people have been killed and several neighborhoods have been demolished in the Palisades and Eaton fires according to Cal Matters. Many people, celebrities and influencers have lost their Los Angeles homes in the fires, some even watched them burn on security cameras.
Milo Ventimiglia, an actor best known for his roles of Jess in “Gilmore Girls” and Jack in “This Is Us”, visited where his house once stood with CBS Reporters who talked with him about what it was like.
“I think there is a kind of shock moment where you are going oh this is real, this is happening and then at a certain point we just turned it off it’s like what good is it to continue watching you know we kind of accepted the lost,” Ventimiglia said in an interview with CBS.
People all over the U.S. are finding ways that they can help. Several restaurants and businesses in OKC worked together on Jan. 27 to raise money to help for people who were affected by the fires.
The four businesses involved include Sedalia’s, Bar Arbolada, Palo Santo and Later Bye.
Many of the business’s owners started in California and learned their skills there before moving to Oklahoma.
The fundraiser consisted some of Los Angeles favorite food and drinks and some raffle prices from some of the people of Oklahoma City’s favorite places. All of the donations benefitted three different organizations that are helping with the damages caused by the fire. These three organizations included World Central Kitchen who is feeding fire victims as well as first responders, the Humane Society of the United States who is helping displaced animals find temporary homes and the last organization is the Los Angeles Fire Foundation.
How Oklahomans can help victims of Los Angeles fires
City’s favorite places. All of the donations benefitted three different organizations that are helping with the damages caused by the fire. These three organizations included World Central Kitchen who is feeding fire victims as well as first responders, the Humane Society of the United States who is helping displaced animals find temporary homes and the last organization is the Los Angeles Fire Foundation.
Another way for Oklahomans to contribute to the cause would be to go to the Go Fund Me that was created for the event. OKC for LA support for fire victims is the name of the Go Fund Me, and it currently sits just over $6,000 with a goal of $8,000
Another way to help out is to be involved with the Red Cross.
According to an article on News 9, Oklahoma is where about 90% of Red Cross volunteers come from, and they are currently seeking more volunteers as it is one of their busiest times of the year.
Some Oklahoman Red Cross volunteers are being deployed to help with the Southern California fires as the organizations offers volunteer opportunities both nationally and internationally.
You can also donate to the Red Cross organization specifically for the fires if you cannot give your time.
Another way to help with the fires is by taking the time to research different organizations that are donating time, money, food and shelter to those in need and finding one to donate too.
While this can be daunting, a good place to start is looking at the social media accounts of celebrities or influencers and checking to see if they are promoting any organizations.
Many influencers and celebrities are sharing organizations they trust as several of them were effected or personally know people who were directly effected by the fires.
A quick Google search of what organizations are donating to the Southern California fires is another great place to start. Many Oklahomans are also learning about fire safety and what to do if a wild fire affects Oklahoma.