Beyoncé donates £2 million to Los Angeles wildfire relief efforts
Beyoncé is doing her part to help Los Angeles in the aftermath of multiple devastating wildfires.
The singer has donated $2.5 million (around £2 million in British sterling) to the L.A. Fire Relief Fund organised by her charitable foundation, BeyGood. The foundation announced the news in an Instagram post.
“Los Angeles we stand with you,” the post read. “BeyGOOD is taking action by announcing the LA Fire Relief Fund with a donation of 2.5 million dollars. The fund is earmarked to aid families in the Altadena/Pasadena area who lost their homes, and to churches and community centers to address the immediate needs of those affected by the wildfires.”
Several fires that have ignited have burned nearly 40,000 acres cumulatively, leading to the deaths of at least 24 people and placing more than 100,000 residents under evacuation orders. The biggest of these blazes are the Palisades Fire in the Pacific Palisades, which has burned at least 23,000 acres and is currently at 11 percent containment, and the Eaton Fire near Altadena and Pasadena, which is responsible for the destruction of nearly 15,000 acres and is 27 percent contained.
In particular, the Eaton Fire has wreaked havoc on the historically Black community of Altadena, an unincorporated area of L.A. County. Since the civil-rights movement, Altadena has served as a haven where Black families could become homeowners, escaping the discriminatory housing practices clouding other parts of the city. Many of the homes destroyed in the wildfire were generational properties passed down over the decades from parent to child.
“This will [displace] a lot of Black people,” Sheila Foster, an Altadena resident whose home was destroyed by the blaze, told Pasadena Star-News. “Some of them are elderly, some were barely holding on before the fire, trying to keep their property because it was going down from generation to generation up here.”
About half of Altadena’s residents are people of colour. In addition to the area’s Black residents, Latinos make up 27 percent and Asians make up nearly six percent of the population.
Numerous celebrities have sought to help with the ongoing efforts of containing the fires. The Duchess of Sussex recently made a surprise appearance in Los Angeles alongside husband Prince Harry to meet those who had lost their homes in the blaze. The pair served food and donated toys and essential supplies to the victims outside the World Central Kitchen in Pasadena.
Meghan also confirmed that she was delaying the release of her upcoming Netflix show, With Love, Meghan, to concentrate her efforts on helping the community in her home state.
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