Early January 7th, the Santa Ana winds sparked wildfires throughout many areas of LA County. Most devastating have been the Palisades and the Eaton Fires, destroying tens of thousands of acres of land in the Pacific Palisades, Malibu, Altadena, and Pasadena. Over 200,000 people have had to evacuate, with a state of emergency being declared almost immediately. Thousands of homes and structures have been destroyed, devastating entire neighbourhoods, as well as taking the lives of two dozen people. Our GEM USA West team was on the ground right away, and is now being supported by our GEM HQ & GEM Hawaii teams in order to provide the most robust effort. Our immediate assistance is in the form of BStrong cash assistance cards and larger-scale humanitarian aid assistance. GEM is already established a warehouse space in LA County to support these communities indefinitely.
This disaster has completely destroyed communities, and our teams will be working diligently to deliver hopeandsupport.