MIAMI — When something devastating happens like the wildfires burning through Los Angeles County, it tends to bring out the best in people. Here in South Florida, many want to know how to help.
“Apocalyptic” is how some describe those fires.
“It’s absolutely devastating, I’m heartbroken,” said Aggie Sink.
He said the images coming from Southern California look like “World War 3.”
“I mean, [it looks] like an atomic bomb went off,” Sink said.
Michael Capponi, the president and founder of the Global Empowerment Mission (GEM) in Doral, said they already have a team on the ground in L.A.
“There’s a lot of people that, you know, are gonna really need assistance and don’t have insurance. So, we give them a visa card of a couple of $100, and that’s so they can just get whatever they need because they need to,” he said. “They ran out of the house and they have nothing left.”
Capponi told CBS News Miami that GEM has a stocked warehouse in Northern California that will begin shipping help to L.A. in a couple of days. If you want to help, he said cash donations are best.
“We have a special California fires fund [and] L.A. fires fund for this, and when that money gets earmarked like that, it’s only used for that sole purpose,” Capponi said.
The Los Angeles Fire Department Foundation put out an emergency funding alert. They too are looking for cash donations to buy things like emergency fire shelters to protect firefighters caught in flames, hydration backpacks and wildlands brush tools to help clear terrain.
South Florida may be 3,000 miles away from those in need, but advocates told CBS News Miami they’d be grateful for the donations.
“It is always the best moments of humanity, you know, when everybody’s coming, you know?” Capponi said. “L.A. is a very, you know, outer world, right? And everyone’s in the in their scenes, and then all of a sudden, you know, they’re left bare, and they volunteer, and they help, and they become united more than ever.”
Helpful links
There are several ways you can lend your support to those in L.A. If you want to help, click on the organizations below to find out how you can give a helping hand:
Global Empowerment Mission (GEM)
Los Angeles Fire Department Foundation
World Central Kitchen
American Red Cross
