Disaster Relief: Los Angeles County Wildfires

The Los Angeles County Wildfires have been called “one of the most destructive natural disasters in the history of Los Angeles” by LAFD Chief Kristin Crowly. Companies and nonprofits have activated to provide support to people, pets, and businesses impacted by the fires. This post includes:

-> Suggested nonprofit organizations to donate to

-> Suggested nonprofit organization to volunteer with

-> Ways that Deed partners are helping with disaster relief

-> An email template to engage employees in your disaster relief campaign

-> A Slack/Teams template to engage employees in your disaster relief campaign

Suggested nonprofit organizations to donate to

A fast way to make a difference is to support nonprofits that are on the ground doing incredible work. A partial list is included below, and these nonprofits and others have already been added to Deed’s Los Angeles County Wildfire Campaign and are listed below:

• Airbnb.org is offering free, temporary housing for people displaced by the Los Angeles County Wildfires. Airbnb.org is partnering with 211 LA, Los Angles County’s social services resource hotline and directory, to identify residents who are in need of temporary housing whether they have lost their homes or have been forced to evacuate. For more information about how employees can support Airbnb.org’s efforts by donating or sharing information with any Airbnb hosts they know, please visit this resource page on Airbnb.org.
  
  
• GoFundMe.Org's Wildfire Relief Fund was created to provide direct relief to people affected by a wildfire via immediate cash grants (within 1-2 days). Last year, their 2024 Wildfire Relief Fund issued recovery grants to over 150 people and families who survived wildfires in CA, NM, TX, and CO. GoFundMe.org is a vetted and verified 501c3 organization and can be donated to through Deed. If you know a GoFundMe fundraiser that may qualify to receive a grant, please submit it using this form for review (please make sure to note that you are a Deed partner in the note section).
  
  
• Direct Relief: Direct Relief works to equip health professionals in resource-poor communities to meet the challenges of diagnosing and caring for people in need. Direct Relief is closely monitoring the situation and has reached out with offers of support to Los Angeles County, the regional primary care association, and community health centers and free clinics operating in areas impacted by the fire and smoke.
  
  
• California Community Foundation: The California Community Foundation (CCF) has worked to transform generosity into impact and create a stronger future for Los Angeles County. CCF’s Wildfire Recovery Fund supports communities through this critical period with both intermediate recovery and long-term resilience. *Please designate "Wildlife Recovery Fund" when making your donation.
  
  
• World Central Kitchen: World Central Kitchen (WCK) provides fresh meals in response to crises, while working to build resilient food systems with locally led solutions. WCK teams have mobilized across the region to provide immediate relief in the form of sandwiches and water as we identify all areas of need.
  
  
• American Red Cross Serving Los Angeles: American Red Cross provides shelter, food, and direct assistance to those in need. Its mission is to prevent and relieve suffering, here at home and around the world. The American Red Cross serving Los Angeles has opened shelters for residents impacted and continues to assess the situation.
  
  
• Los Angeles Fire Department Foundation: The Los Angeles Fire Department Foundation is collecting emergency funding for emergency fire shelters, hydration backpacks that can be used by those responding and for wild land brush tools which are used to help ground crews cut through limbs and remove potential fuel sources.
  
  
• Los Angeles Regional Foodbank: The Los Angeles Regional Foodbank is working with government agencies and local nonprofit partners to provide as many meals as possible to those who have evacuated. Those impacted can find the closest foodbank here.
  
  
• American Red Cross Serving Los Angeles: The American Red Cross serving Los Angeles is opening emergency shelters all across Los Angeles and Woodland Hills. Disaster Relief teams are on the ground providing food, emotional support and cots and blankets to thousands of people in emergency shelters.
  
  
• Los Angeles Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals: The Los Angeles Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCALA) is taking in and caring for dozens of pets from families that are forced to evacuate.
  
  

Remember: Deed offers expedited disbursement timelines for BOTH employee donations AND corporate donations pertaining to disaster relief. Donations made through Deed help people in need SOONER!

Suggested nonprofit organizations to volunteer with

The Deed team is continuing to add organizations and volunteer opportunities to our Disaster Relief Campaign.

Additionally, you can find a continually updated list of organizations that need volunteers or donations here from the Volunteer Collective. Please note that many organizations do not need additional volunteers at this time, so we are monitoring the situation and will keep our page up to date, but please use the webpage shared above as an additional resource.

Ways that Deed partners are helping with disaster relief

As the need for assistance grows, Deed wants to highlight the work being done by some of our amazing partners.

DoorDash

Door Dash is providing $150,000 in Community Credits to first responders and local organizations, has allocated $150,000 for Disaster Relief Fund grants to local restaurants that have been impacted, and has allocated $250,000 for Dasher Relief Fund grants to eligible dashers impacted by the fires. Learn more about DoorDash’s efforts here.

Instacart

Instacart is waiving delivery fees on all grocery and daily essentials orders of $10 or more for Instacart customers in Los Angeles county. Learn more about Instacart’s efforts here.

Airbnb.org

Airbnb.org is offering free, temporary housing for people displaced by the Los Angeles County Wildfires. Airbnb.org is partnering with 211 LA, Los Angles County’s social services resource hotline and directory, to identify residents who are in need of temporary housing whether they have lost their homes or have been forced to evacuate. For more information about how employees can support Airbnb.org’s efforts by donating or sharing information with any Airbnb hosts they know, please visit this resource page on Airbnb.org.

The Deed team highly recommends adding Airbnb.org as a beneficiary to existing relief campaigns or urging employees to support Airbnb.org through Deed’s Disaster Relief Campaign.

If your company has any initiatives to support those impacted by the wildfires, please let us know, and we would love to share and spread the word about your amazing work.

Templates

Below, we have included an email template and a Slack/Teams template that you can quickly paste and send out to your employees to promote engagement in your company’s wildfire campaign.

Email template

Subject line: Ways to support efforts for the Los Angeles County Wildfires

Body:

Hello [First Name],

With the intensifying Los Angeles Wildfires 153,000 Los Angeles County residents remain under mandatory evacuation orders and another 166,000 residents have been warned that they may need to evacuate. <Company Name> want to do our part to help the people impacted!

How can you support?

A fast way to make a difference is to support nonprofits that are on the ground doing incredible work. A partial list is included below, and these nonprofits and others have already been added to our Wildfire Campaign <add your Campiagn Deed link> and are listed below:

• Airbnb.org is offering free, temporary housing for people displaced by the Los Angeles County Wildfires. Airbnb.org is partnering with 211 LA, Los Angles County’s social services resource hotline and directory, to identify residents who are in need of temporary housing whether they have lost their homes or have been forced to evacuate. For more information about how employees can support Airbnb.org’s efforts by donating or sharing information with any Airbnb hosts they know, please visit this resource page on Airbnb.org.
  
  
• GoFundMe.Org's Wildfire Relief Fund was created to provide direct relief to people affected by a wildfire via immediate cash grants (within 1-2 days). Last year, their 2024 Wildfire Relief Fund issued recovery grants to over 150 people and families who survived wildfires in CA, NM, TX, and CO. GoFundMe.org is a vetted and verified 501c3 organization and can be donated to through Deed. If you know a GoFundMe fundraiser that may qualify to receive a grant, please submit it using this form for review (please make sure to note that you are a Deed partner in the note section).
  
  
• Direct Relief: Direct Relief works to equip health professionals in resource-poor communities to meet the challenges of diagnosing and caring for people in need. Direct Relief is closely monitoring the situation and has reached out with offers of support to Los Angeles County, the regional primary care association, and community health centers and free clinics operating in areas impacted by the fire and smoke.
  
  
• California Community Foundation: The California Community Foundation (CCF) has worked to transform generosity into impact and create a stronger future for Los Angeles County. CCF’s Wildfire Recovery Fund supports communities through this critical period with both intermediate recovery and long-term resilience. *Please designate "Wildlife Recovery Fund" when making your donation.
  
  
• World Central Kitchen: World Central Kitchen (WCK) provides fresh meals in response to crises, while working to build resilient food systems with locally led solutions. WCK teams have mobilized across the region to provide immediate relief in the form of sandwiches and water as we identify all areas of need.
  
  
• American Red Cross Serving Los Angeles: American Red Cross provides shelter, food, and direct assistance to those in need. Its mission is to prevent and relieve suffering, here at home and around the world. The American Red Cross serving Los Angeles has opened shelters for residents impacted and continues to assess the situation.
  
  
• Los Angeles Fire Department Foundation: The Los Angeles Fire Department Foundation is collecting emergency funding for emergency fire shelters, hydration backpacks that can be used by those responding and for wild land brush tools which are used to help ground crews cut through limbs and remove potential fuel sources.
  
  
• Los Angeles Regional Foodbank: The Los Angeles Regional Foodbank is working with government agencies and local nonprofit partners to provide as many meals as possible to those who have evacuated. Those impacted can find the closest foodbank here.
  
  
• American Red Cross Serving Los Angeles: The American Red Cross serving Los Angeles is opening emergency shelters all across Los Angeles and Woodland Hills. Disaster Relief teams are on the ground providing food, emotional support and cots and blankets to thousands of people in emergency shelters.
  
  
• Los Angeles Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals: The Los Angeles Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCALA) is taking in and caring for dozens of pets from families that are forced to evacuate.

Remember: Deed offers expedited disbursement timelines for employee donations pertaining to disaster relief. Donations made through Deed help people in need SOONER!

Insert if your company is offering donation matching: To help amplify your impact, we’re offering a [amount or rate] donation match for all donations made to this campaign.

If you volunteer related to this disaster, please let us know how and where so we can share with others.

Thank you for supporting those in need!

Best,

[Name]

Slack/Teams template

Hello! With the intensifying Los Angeles Wildfires, we want to ensure that all employees are aware of [Company Name]’s campaign [link]. Donations to this campaign support nonprofits that are on the ground helping people impacted by the fires. Deed offers expedited disbursement timelines for employee donations pertaining to disaster relief. Donations made through Deed help people in need SOONER!