Words by Tess Becker
Maui has experienced one of the deadliest wildfires in history according to the National Fire Protection Association. Historic landmarks are wiped out, and homes burned to the ground. People across the island will be reeling for a long time.
Wildfires have been a consistent issue in the United States too, with Californian wildfires just last year looking like something out of a post-apocalyptic hellscape. Here are five organizations on the frontline of tackling the issue.
Wildfire Relief Fund by California Community Foundation
The people most affected by wildfires are often those already on the margins. Poorer people, people of color, and other groups who don’t have the same infrastructure in place when they lose their homes or communities to an inferno. The Relief Fund works to address this and provides support to those in need of healthcare, cash, and essentials such as food.
The fund has been able to deliver $24 million worth of aid and donations to California.
Center for Disaster Philanthropy
Some wildfires impact highly populated areas such as California and now New York. But other, more remote areas deal with them frequently. The Center for Disaster Philanthropy works to support such areas, including Kansas and Montana.
Some of the most crucial responses to wildfires involve community support - led by the community for the community. That’s just the case for the Oregon Community Foundation.
This organization leans into their grassroots identity to better serve local people, making a big impact with a comparatively small amount of funding. Certain boroughs and counties are unable to overcome the fires’ devastation after over $80 million in donations. With just $1.2 million, Oregon’s relief efforts are uplifting people from the fallout, rebuilding structures and taking care of their basic needs.
Operation USA – Education and Relief
Many funds dealing wildfires also help tackle other types of disasters - as is the case with Operation USA. They’ve been around since the 1970s and are one of the oldest organizations of their kind, providing many different types of disaster relief.
Entertainment Industry Foundation
Using the entertainment industry as a tool for good, the Entertainment Industry Foundation serves as a philanthropic arm to offer humanitarian aid. Since 2016, the organization has helped fight many different wildfires.
To ensure your donation contributes to wildfire relief, select a wildfire listing active on the site and donate to the wildfire fund.
Even if you’re not working on the frontlines helping to evacuate wildlife and putting out fires you can still help the cause by donating to some of the many organizations trying to make a difference.
Run by the Hawai’i Community Foundation, the Maui Strong Fund is accepting donations to help with necessities like food, clothing and shelter for families who have lost their homes.
