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Mobilizing the community to support Los Angles wildfire recovery

What started with a text from a friend has grown into a collective effort to support and uplift those who have faced immense devastation. 

Fire ravages the Pacific Palisades in Southern California on Jan. 8, 2025, January 2025. Credit: CAL FIRE_Official via Wikimedia Commons.
Fire ravages the Pacific Palisades in Southern California on Jan. 8, 2025, January 2025. Credit: CAL FIRE_Official via Wikimedia Commons.

For the past few weeks, I’ve been in constant contact with friends and family as they share heartbreaking stories of evacuation and lost homes and personal belongings due to the Palisades and Eaton fires in Los Angeles.

In the sea of gut-wrenching messages and stories, one text, in particular, stood out. It came from a close friend whose home in the Palisades was destroyed.

It read: “I need your help. I have no shoes other than the sneakers I wore to evacuate my home, and I’m not going to let these fires stop me from going to my best friend’s daughter’s bat mitzvah this weekend. Can you lend me a pair of shoes?”

As the CEO of Tieks, a Los Angeles-based ballet flat company, I immediately invited her to our offices. I gifted her a few pairs—not only to wear at the bat mitzvah but also to carry her through the weeks and months of uncertainty that lie ahead.

That moment stuck with me. The fires didn’t just destroy homes, restaurants and businesses. They left people in a state of vulnerability. Those affected no longer have the essential items they rely on—shoes to wear, clothes to change into and a safe space to return home to.

The news continued to highlight stories of firefighters working long hours, families struggling to find temporary accommodations and entire neighborhoods turned to ash. Seeing this immense destruction broke my heart. Los Angeles is my home. It is where I grew up, where I started a business, and where I built a life for myself. Seeing large pockets of the city ablaze was devastating.

The Jewish value of tzedakah, charity, has always been important to me, personally and through my company. I knew I wanted to help. I saw donation links, clothing drives and volunteer opportunities across social media, and friends, family and Tieks customers were reaching out with questions on how to help. They didn’t know where to start.

At Tieks, we have a tradition of mobilizing our loyal customer base to take action and support those in need. After Hamas’s devastating attacks on Oct. 7, 2023, we launched “Tieks for Israel,” a campaign to auction eight of Tieks’ most exclusive ballet flats, which raised funds to support damaged and overwhelmed hospitals in Israel. In 10 days, we raised more than $158,000. Similarly, we have helped raise funds to combat the horrific surge of antisemitism worldwide with our “Tieks Against Antisemitism” campaign and provided resources to those impacted by the war in Ukraine through “Tieks for Ukraine.”

In response to the Los Angeles fires, Tieks launched two similar campaigns, “Tieks for LA” and “Tieks for North Carolina.” These initiatives encourage customers to support first responders and victims of the devastating wildfires, as well as those impacted by the catastrophic flooding of Hurricane Helene, by offering $50 gift cards for any $25 monetary or in-kind donation.

The response we received from customers reinforced the importance of tzedakah. In the first two days, we raised thousands of dollars and received many donated clothes, blankets and essential supplies to support wildfire relief organizations.

What started with a text from a friend who needed a pair of shoes for a bat mitzvah has grown into a collective effort to support and uplift those who have faced immense devastation.

Wildfires are an unfortunate reality in California, and their frequency and intensity are growing. We may not be able to prevent these fires, but we can come together to make sure individuals and families never feel alone in their recovery.

Every action, act of kindness, and donation, big or small, becomes part of a larger network of care, helping individuals and families take the first step toward healing and a new sense of normalcy. 

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