O.C. Students Step Up to Support L.A. Fire Victims

Tens of thousands of people across Southern California are being impacted by the deadly fires that ravaged Los Angeles County in recent weeks, decimating thousands of structures, including schools.

In Orange County, schools have become hubs for humanitarian aid. Students and educators are leading relief efforts to help our neighbors to the north.

Brandon Hart, a teacher at Los Alamitos High School in the Los Alamitos Unified School District, is one of them. “I was looking for a way to give that I knew would directly hit people in need,” Hart said in an interview during a recent donation drive he spearheaded.

On January 12, he and students from several service clubs at the school hosted the event on campus. The goal was to collect items for families impacted by the devastating Eaton fire that are also connected to the California School of the Arts – San Gabriel Valley (CSArts-SGV). The charter school in the Duarte Unified School District is a sister campus to the Orange County School of the Arts (OCSA) in Santa Ana. LAHS was once home to the School of the Arts.

The Eaton fire shuttered CSArts-SGV for two days earlier this month and some of its families have suffered unimaginable losses. “We have 46 current families who have lost homes, 18 alumni families who have lost homes, and 27 additional families who are still evacuated,” Julia Gutierrez, the Director of Public Relations for the school, wrote in a January 16 email to Spotlight Schools.

As the fires burned across L.A. that first week, Los Alamitos Unified blasted messages to everyone about the donation drive at the high school. The response from the community was overwhelming. People descended on LAHS in cars, trucks, and SUVs filled with bottled water, toiletries, clothes, and more. Dozens of volunteers, including more than 75 students, diligently sorted through the piles of donations. 

“The words ‘thank you’ don't convey the gratitude we feel, to everyone who showed up to give in so many different capacities,” Hart wrote in an email to Spotlight Schools. “We were not prepared for the volume of generosity; we offer appreciation even to those whose contributions had to be turned away because we were out of the space and hands necessary to process and receive the offerings. Thank you to everyone for being so understanding and for responding so graciously to survivors' needs as well as volunteers' capacity.”

Los Alamitos school board member Chris Forehan was at the drive helping. “It just feels good to be able to do something,” he said while unpacking supplies from cars.

Hart said they delivered four U-Haul trucks worth of donations to CSArts-SGV on January 13. The items were added to what was collected in a drive at OCSA to create a giant donation center inside the school’s gymnasium. CSArts-SGV families have been visiting the site to get necessities, but the assistance is reaching beyond the campus community.

“Thanks to this overwhelming display of generosity, we have been able to extend the offer to pick up items from our Emergency Relief Donation Drive to community partners and other schools in the area, hopefully easing some of the difficulties faced by those impacted by the wildfires,” Gutierrez said. 

“We are so grateful to everyone who participated and helped to organize our Emergency Relief Donation Drive, including all of our amazing friends in Orange County. It is truly inspiring to see so many come together in support of CSArts-SGV and its surrounding community,” said Nicole Read, CSArts-SGV Principal of Academics. 

"Every donation, no matter how small, can make a really big difference"

Los Alamitos High School sophomore Era Berani said her student-led Bright Hearts Club will be continuing the effort to collect items for L.A. fire victims through the end of January. The 16-year-old student said she founded her club earlier this school year to “bring kindness and support those in need.” The firestorm disaster motivated her to act. 

“When I first heard about the fires and saw how many families were losing their homes and belongings, it really hit me,” Era said in a January 19 phone interview. “I couldn't really imagine what it must be like to suddenly have nothing, and I knew I wanted to do something to help.” 

Her school-based drive has now expanded to her parents’ business, Griffins Grill in Los Alamitos. The popular restaurant is also collecting items to distribute to those in need.

Era said the response has been very positive. She’s already filled up her Ford Bronco with diapers, wipes, bottled water and more. She and her father plan to deliver the first batch of necessities on Monday, Martin Luther King Jr. Day.  

Era said the donations will go to various groups in need from a list compiled by Mutual Aid Los Angeles, a network connecting “people and groups with each other so everyone can get the help they need or provide help when they can.”

“People should know that every donation, no matter how small, can make a really big difference,” Era said. “Whether it's a single item or a large contribution, it all adds up to help those in need. And just spreading the word is also just as important.”

Big and small, other students have been helping in the Los Alamitos USD and beyond. Campuses including McAuliffe Middle School, Oak Middle School, and McGaugh Elementary had student-led fire relief efforts. McGaugh's 5th grade student leadership group reported raising $859 in a coin drive benefitting the Red Cross. (Full disclosure: my child is a student at McGaugh).

“This community raises amazing kids and our kids do so much,” Los Alamitos USD Superintendent Andrew Pulver, Ed.D., said during the school board meeting on January 14 when he highlighted students' efforts.

Amazing kids from school-based communities across Orange County are also pitching in.

In the Capistrano Unified School District, Marblehead Elementary School hosted a fundraising drive with the school’s PTA pledging to match what families contributed in support of the California Community Foundation.

In the Fullerton School District, Rolling Hills Elementary collected much-needed items for numerous groups, including local fire stations. 

The Garden Grove Unified School District announced that the Pacifica High School community had collected and delivered supplies and $850 in gift cards to Foster Love, a Brea-based nonprofit helping displaced families and children. 

The Westminster School District is accepting donations of food and water on January 22 and 23 at its Meairs Elementary School campus. The district is also welcoming students displaced by the fires to enroll at its schools, even temporarily. 

"Let’s go help raise money for the L.A. fire victims”

Some students took the initiative by seeking out help from their own neighbors. Jack Adams, a 13-year-old Seal Beach resident and 7th grader at Oak Middle School was wondering how he could help people impacted by the fires. 

“For me it was kind of personal,” Jack shared in a recent phone interview. “Our family was relocated and lived with us for a week.” After church last week, he called up his friends and said, “Let’s go help raise money for the L.A. fire victims.”

He and five friends made signs and walked up and down Main Street asking for donations. They directed people to Jack's house nearby and the items poured in. Jack and his friends also raised $200.

“I went to school the next day with a grateful heart about what me and my friends had done to help the community and help the people that needed it,” Jack said.

Jack’s actions inspired his own family to do more. His mother Mechelle Lawrence-Adams is the Executive Director of the Mission San Juan Capistrano. Her husband Joe Adams is the Chief Executive Officer of the Discovery Cube, which has locations in Santa Ana and Sylmar, an area impacted by another blaze in the L.A. firestorm, the Hurst fire. The Mission and both Discovery Cube locations have now become donation sites with a drive that runs through January 22 to support people and firefighters in L.A. City Council District 7. (Find more information about the drive on the Discovery Cube’s website.) 

Lawrence-Adams said she learned a lot from her son and his friends. “The kids showed that you can make a difference,” she said.

“My message to other kids is definitely to always help those in need,” Jack said, and added, “You could be saving people’s lives with the things that you raise.”

Looking to help the education community in L.A. County?

Here is a list of relief and fundraising efforts specifically focused on the schools, students, educators, and families affected by the L.A. firestorm.

• The Los Angeles Unified School District Education Foundation has set up an Emergency Relief Fund for wildfire victims.
• The California Department of Education partnered with SupplyBank.org to provide assistance to students, educators, and school staff affected by the wildfire disasters.
• The L.A. County Office of Education has established a Wildlife Recovery Fund.
• The California Teachers Association is offering assistance to teachers through its Disaster Relief Fund and is vetting a Google spreadsheet listing the GoFundMe accounts for individual educators in need of support due to the fires.
• The Pasadena Unified School District's Educational Foundation is helping coordinate donations for its community impacted by the Eaton fire.
• The Pasadena Waldorf School has launched a GoFundMe campaign to rebuild its Paquita Lick Machris Campus which was destroyed in the Eaton fire.
• Palisades Charter High School, which is currently closed due to damage from the Palisades fire, has an official donation effort you can support. Find more information here.

Do you know about a resource you think we should share with our readers? Email hello@spotlightschools.com