FireAid has donated $75,000 to YMCA support program California Strong for distribution to 75 families affected by the Palisades and Eaton wildfires, officials announced Wednesday.
FireAid’s Jan. 30 benefit concert in Inglewood provided $50 million in immediate relief assistance to more than 120 nonprofit organizations that distributed the funds to over 150,000 fire victims. The new California Strong/Southeast Ventura County YMCA donation is part of a second distribution phase that focuses on long-term recovery, the organization said.
“People are still hurting and struggling to put their lives back together,” Ronnie Stone, president and chief executive of the SEVC YMCA, said in a statement. “It will take time and resources. SEVC YMCA is able to continue to do good work thanks to organizations like FireAid that support nonprofits like us.”
Seventy-five fire victims who had previously filled out relief applications were vetted to receive the funds.
After the most recent fires, including the Mountain Fire in Ventura, California Strong received financial donations from hundreds of individual donors, businesses and nonprofits including The Salah Foundation, a private foundation that supports non-profit organizations in the United States that strengthen families and communities, according to the organization said.
California Strong has distributed more than $750,000 this year and over $3 million in aid since its inception in 2018 following the Woolsey Fire and Borderline shooting. It has helped more than 3,200 disaster victims. Another $1.2 million in essential goods and new items have been passed out during events held in Los Angeles and Ventura counties, California Strong officials said.
“One hundred percent of the donations we receive go toward families impacted by these fires,” Stone said. “The continued generous giving by individuals, businesses and nonprofits has made a huge difference in so many lives.”
For more information or to donate, visit www.californiastrong.org or call 805-497-3081.