Cash Relief for Wildfire Survivors
You can send funds directly to low-income families impacted by fires.
Over 180,000 people have evacuated their homes, and more than 36,000 acres (2.5x the size of Manhattan) have burned in the most destructive wildfires in Los Angeles’ history.
Tens of thousands of low-income families are displaced, out of work, and facing a long road to restarting their lives.
We’re delivering cash to low-income families in the hardest-hit areas of Los Angeles.
This emergency cash will help cover their immediate needs, including:
- 🍛 Essentials like food, medicine, and diapers
- 🏨 Shelter and hotel stays while evacuated
- 💳 Bills for their phone, healthcare, and utilities
Your donations will reach those in greatest need quickly and fully remotely.
We’ll use fire damage and poverty data to identify the highest-need communities. We then target, enroll, and pay low-income survivors fully remotely through Propel, an app used to manage food stamp benefits.
We’re currently identifying communities in greatest need and aim to complete outreach, enrollment, and payments as soon as possible.
When we sent cash relief to families impacted by Hurricanes Helene and Milton last fall, they could self-enroll in 1 minute and receive payments 2-3 days later.
This cash will help thousands of families meet their own urgent needs and rebuild their lives.
Cash aid allows fire survivors to meet their own needs rather than having others guess for them — which is why people impacted by a crisis say they prefer cash relief over donated goods.
Achieving our current fundraising goal will enable us to reach hundreds of families in greatest need. We have the capacity to deliver much more in Los Angeles, so with more funds, we could expand to reach thousands more.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Who is eligible to receive money?
We’ll use fire damage and poverty data to identify the highest-need communities and then enroll and pay families impacted by the LA fires remotely through the Propel app.
What if we raise more or less than the fundraising goal?
Any excess funds will help us deliver cash to more families impacted by the fires. If for any reason we are unable to deliver all funds to survivors in Los Angeles, donations will be delivered to other Americans in need or survivors of the next global emergency.
How much will each family receive?
We’re still determining the size of the cash payment each family will receive to help them recover and rebuild their lives. The transfer amount will be designed to cover the cost of common post-disaster recovery needs, such as food and temporary housing.
When will people receive my donation?
We’re currently identifying communities in greatest need and aim to complete outreach, enrollment, and payments in the next 1-2 weeks.
What is GiveDirectly?
We’re a nonprofit that lets you send money directly to the world’s poorest, no strings attached. In the last decade, we’ve delivered cash to over 1.6 million people across 15 countries and research the impacts it can have for families in need.
What if I’d like to make a major gift?
We’d love to hear from you! Reach out to us at [email protected].
Is my donation tax-deductible?
Yes, donations are tax-deductible in the United States. We accept all major credit and debit cards, PayPal, checks, wires, stocks, cryptocurrencies, and more.
If you’re giving outside the U.S., you can still give to this campaign but your gift may not be tax-deductible. You can donate via our international partners to claim tax benefits, but due to partner processing delays those donations may not come in before the campaign ends.
Reach out to us at [email protected] with any questions or for more information on ways to give.