Food, shelter, emotional support, recovery planning and financial assistance available
Thousands of Californians are devastated by the catastrophic wildfires that wiped out their homes, cherished mementos and even their livelihoods. With neighborhoods reduced to ash, the American Red Cross is there, providing help and hope with necessities like food, shelter, emotional care, recovery planning and financial assistance.
As the National Day of Service in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. approaches, the Red Cross has seen the best of humanity — not only in California, but across the country — as thousands of people have given blood, donated money and contributed their time to help ensure no one would experience a crisis alone. In fact, more than 8,000 local community members have raised their hand to help people impacted by the fires. Get started as a Red Cross volunteer at redcross.org/volunteer.
RED CROSS RESPONSE Friday morning, more than 560 evacuees woke up in Red Cross shelters, which are a safe place for everyone and act as a hub for disaster help. Anyone who has been affected is welcome to stop by to get information, a hot meal, charge their phone and access other essential support. The Red Cross won’t ask for identification, and people don’t have to stay overnight. This support is critical as it could be weeks until some neighborhoods are reopened.
In shelters, disaster health volunteers are caring for minor injuries and replacing things like eyeglasses and medications, and mental health workers are providing emotional support to those experiencing unimaginable loss. Caseworkers are helping shelter residents plan their next steps and connect them with other community resources. The top priority is housing, but people also need help with transportation, health care, childcare and other challenges.
As many as 550 Red Cross responders are working day and night to make sure people are not alone. Since the fires started over a week ago, the Red Cross has provided more than 38,000 meals and snacks with the help of partners.
USEFUL LINKS:
Find a shelter.
Prepare to evacuate.
Help find a missing loved one.
Apply for FEMA assistance.
Schedule a blood donation.
Get Red Cross help.
Get important information about wildfire safety and preparedness.
What should you do during a power outage?
Go toCA.gov/LAfires for information and resources from state, local and federal government.
WHERE TO GET HELP The Red Cross is providing financial assistance to impacted households inside the perimeters of the Eaton, Palisades, Hurst, and Kenneth fires. We are actively doing outreach to eligible individuals via email, text message, or phone call directly from the American Red Cross. To learn more about financial assistance, please visit redcross.org/gethelp.
We strongly encourage people to apply for federal aid atdisasterassistance.govor by calling1-800-621-3362. It’s important to know that eligibility for Red Cross assistance is not connected to FEMA. You don’t need approval from FEMA to get help from the Red Cross, and receiving money from the Red Cross won’t impact your eligibility for FEMA assistance or insurance payouts.
HOW YOU CAN HELP Families are depending on the Red Cross for assistance now, and your support is crucial. Please help people affected by the 2025 California Wildfires by visitingredcross.org, calling 1-800-RED CROSS (800-733-2767) or texting the word CAWILDFIRES to 90999 to make a donation. Your gift enables the Red Cross to prepare for, respond to and help people recover from these disasters.
As the wildfires continue to burn and affect air quality, the number of Red Cross blood drive cancelations has grown, impacting hundreds of lifesaving blood donations. Plus, dangerous snow and ice conditions in other parts of the country have resulted in lost donations. Donors of all blood types — particularly type O negative blood donors and those giving platelets — are needed to help save lives. Where it is safe to do so, we encourage people to schedule a blood donation appointment by using the Red Cross Blood Donor App, visiting RedCrossBlood.org or calling 1-800-RED CROSS (1-800-733-2767).
As the climate crisis worsens, disasters like wildfires and hurricanes are becoming more frequent and intense. This means the Red Cross is now launching twice as many relief operations for major disasters than a decade ago.
Annual Disaster Giving Program (ADGP) Through the generosity of our American Red Cross Annual Disaster Giving Program (ADGP) and Disaster Responder members, the American Red Cross is prepared before disaster strikes. ADGP and Disaster Responder members help secure a reliable funding base for disaster relief services that enables the Red Cross to respond immediately, meeting the needs of individuals and families affected by
Mission Leader Members: Amazon; American Airlines; The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints; Costco Wholesale; State Farm; Truist Foundation
ADGP $1M Members: Anheuser-Busch Foundation; Bank of America; Caterpillar Foundation; Chobani; CMA CGM Foundation; Delta Air Lines; Elevance Health Foundation; Enterprise Mobility Foundation; FedEx; Lilly Endowment Inc.; Lowe's Companies, Inc.; McDonald’s Corporation; Merck; Microsoft; Nationwide Foundation; The Pfizer Foundation; Six Four Foundation; The Starbucks Foundation; Takeda; VSP Vision; Walmart and the Walmart Foundation; Wells Fargo
ADGP $500k Members: ALDI; Altria Group; American Express; Aon; Baxter International Foundation; Boeing; Bread Financial; Capital One; Chick-fil-A; Citi Foundation; The Clorox Company; Danaher Foundation; Darden Foundation; Delta Dental; DHL Supply Chain; Edison International; Energy Transfer/Sunoco Foundation; Ford Philanthropy; Fox Corporation; GE Aerospace; General Motors; Google.org; HCA Healthcare; The Home Depot Foundation; The J.M. Smucker Company; Johnson Controls Foundation; ; The Kraft Heinz Company Foundation; The Kroger Co. Foundation; Liberty Mutual Insurance; Lockheed Martin Corporation; Mastercard; Mondelēz International Foundation; New Balance Foundation; Paul Davis Restoration; PayPal; PepsiCo Foundation; PetSmart Charities; Southeastern Grocers Gives Foundation & Southeastern Grocers, Harveys Supermarket and Winn-Dixie; Stryker; Suburban Propane; Target; The TJX Companies, Inc.; Toyota; United Airlines; UPS; USAA; U.S. Bank Foundation; Visa Foundation; The Walt Disney Company; The Wawa Foundation; Wesco; Zoetis Foundation
Disaster Responder Members: 7-Eleven Cares Foundation; Adobe Foundation; The AES Corporation; Albemarle Corporation; The Allstate Foundation; American Tire Distributors; American Water Charitable Foundation; Ameriprise Financial; Assurant; AvalonBay Communities, Inc.; Avangrid Foundation; Barclays; Bath & Body Works;; Build-A-Bear Foundation; Canadian National Railway; CarMax; CDW; Charles Schwab Foundation; Cisco and Cisco Foundation; CNA Insurance; The Coca-Cola Foundation; The Deluxe Foundation; DENSO North America Foundation; The DICK’S Sporting Goods Foundation; Discover; Dollar General; Dollar Tree and Family Dollar; Duke Energy; Erie Insurance; Equitable; Fifth Third Foundation; FirstEnergy Corporation; Harbor Freight Tools Foundation, LLC;; HP Foundation; International Paper; Invitation Homes; Johnson & Johnson Foundation; Keurig Dr Pepper; Kimberly-Clark Corporation; L’Oréal; The Labcorp Charitable Foundation; Lenovo ; LKQ; Macy’s, Inc.; Major League Baseball; Marathon Petroleum Corporation; Martin Marietta; Masco Corporation; McKesson Foundation; MetLife Foundation; Neiman Marcus Group; NextEra Energy, Inc.; Norfolk Southern; Northrop Grumman Foundation; Northwestern Mutual; Novartis; Old Dominion Freight Line; Pacific Life Foundation;; Prudential; Raymond James; RBC Foundation USA; Reckitt; Reliance, Inc.; Reynolds American Inc.; RTX; Ryder System, Inc.; Salesforce; Santander Bank and Santander Consumer USA Foundation Inc. ; Security Finance’s Lending Hand Foundation; ServiceNow; Southwest Airlines; Stanley Black & Decker; Stephens; Tennant Foundation; U-Haul International; Ulta Beauty Charitable Foundation; US Foods; Yum! Brands; Zurich
