A little bit of a different post today. I’m a California native; I’ve lived in both Southern and Northern California and know how destructive fire season can be. Over the last two weeks, you may have heard about the Butte County Camp fire that has displaced several thousand people and destroyed over 10,000 homes.
The air quality has been extremely poor over the last two weeks and today is seemingly the first day even I’ve been able to see a slightly blue patch in the sky. The smoke even 100 away coats the skies and appears as fog, but we know it’s smoke. It’s been heartbreaking to hear about all the stories coming out of the city of Paradise where most of the destruction has occurred.
How You Can Help
If you are looking to make any donations, these are the charities and foundations that have been recommended by most of the media and spokespeople out there.
The American Red Cross is partnering with AT&T. You can choose to donate to “California Wildfires” or other causes at, or by texting “CAWILDFIRES” to 90999.
The California Wildfire Relief Fund through Global Giving. Their Fire Relief Fund will distribute raised funds to organizations like North Valley Community Foundation, California Fire Foundation, World Central Kitchen and Jake’s Diapers.
The North Valley Community Foundation is accepting donations to assist with funding evacuation centers and providing people with whatever they need (ie: food, water, clothing).
The Salvation Army: A special page, SalArmyCampFire.org, has been created to accept donations. People can also call 1-800-SAL-ARMY (725-2769) and specify “Camp Fire” for designated funds.
United Way of Northern California has set up a fund to provide emergency help to fire victims. Visit the link here or text BUTTEFIRE to 91999 to donate.
The website Norcalfiredonationlist.com has a consistently updated list of places you can donate to. Visit them for information about food, clothing and other material goods that are desperately needed.
Wrap Up
If you are able to help the victims of the California wildfires in any way, please do. If you are unable to, please keep them in your thoughts. We are hoping to have rain this week to clear out the air and hopefully help put out some of the fires later this week. This list is by no means comprehensive, but rather are the largest charities right now that are accepting donations for help.