Los Angeles Wildfires Disaster Relief
January 19 to 21:
Preparing for an Extensive Mission
Written By Ida Eva Zielinska
Published #76 | Spring 2025 Issue
Street fundraising provides the community an opportunity to help those impacted by the wildfires. Photo/Jaime Puerta
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Following the first distributions on January 18, Tzu Chi volunteers in Los Angeles took on several tasks to prepare for what would be an extensive disaster relief mission. Some took to the streets to fundraise in support of the effort.
In one location on January 19, Tzu Chi volunteer Jerry Tram reported, “We’re going to do it till the end of the year; continue to fundraise.” Angela Lee, another volunteer, confirmed the result of such grassroots endeavors, “Yesterday, our fundraising was more than $10,000!”
Other teams traveled to disaster zones to assess the situation as residents began returning to the site of their homes. Sadly, what many were finding there was only debris and ashes. Debbie Lee, Chief Executive Officer of Tzu Chi Education Foundation, who was on a team that went to Altadena, impacted by the Eaton Fire, said, “Only by going deep into the disaster area, can we truly feel the pain, which is deeper than what we experienced at the distribution.”
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While wandering through what had become a burned wasteland, the volunteers met a resident who was initially alarmed at the presence of strangers. “When there are people that I don’t know roaming around… Well, we’re all afraid of looters up here…” Steve Bridal told them.
However, he was instantly relieved once he and his wife, Leticia, learned the visitors were from Tzu Chi. It turns out that he is a patient at a Tzu Chi Health Center. “Right away, I knew everything was okay. You’re a fine, fine organization,” Steve said, and Leticia added, “Don’t ever, ever stop being so loving and caring.”
On January 21, another team was preparing the West Los Angeles Service Center to accommodate an even larger influx of Palisades Fire survivors than at the first distribution on January 18. “Tomorrow, we’re expecting about 71 people. All these people will be from the Palisades Fire. Everything is gone, and yeah, it’s really sad…” the Service Center’s Director, Flora Yeh, explained, knowing the sorrow well, having lost her own home there.
On the ground in the Palisades Fire disaster zone, Clayton Holt, an engineer and paramedic from the City of El Segundo Fire Department tasked with being on the lookout for people returning to their homes to help them out in any way, revealed, “When people are coming to look through their stuff to find any kind of personal effects it’s a… It’s a pretty daunting task. There’s not really much that is salvageable. It’s been really hard.”
Back at the West Los Angeles Service Center, Tzu Chi volunteer Martin Kuo, who was helping Yeh set up, said, “We wish we can help as many as quickly as possible. So far, we schedule a distribution every three to four days. So, we hope we can help them put their feet back on the ground again. That’s why we do it.”
