Feet Pic For Fire Victims: The Very LA Ways Angelenos Are Helping Make A Difference
In the wake of last week’s devastating wildfires ― some of which are still burning ― there was never any doubt that Los Angeles was going to come together to support impacted Angelenos.
And they’re doing so in the most LA way possible, with one person even using feet pics to raise funds.
In a city full of shrinks, therapists and other mental health practitioners are offering pro bono therapy for those in affected communities.
More than 60 hair salons throughout Los Angeles County are offering free blowouts and hair washes to first responders and evacuees in need of a little self-care.
One celebrity esthetician, Joanna Vargas, is inviting first responders and impacted Angelenos to come in for a complimentary session in a relaxation oxygen pod and LED bed, which she said helps reduce inflammation and improve breathing.
“For us, it’s about helping to calm people during such a traumatic event. As estheticians and service providers, we love making people feel good,” Vargas said.
And then there’s Tinder Badhesha, a model who sold feet pics to help raise funds for those in need. (Foot fetishes, come through for the City of Angels.)
“I donated to three different families on GoFundMe so far, as well as to the commissary for the incarcerated firefighters who are helping to fight all of these fires and keeping us safe,” Badhesha told HuffPost.
“I believe that money energy is karmic energy,” she added. “So basically, if you spend your money on good, then that good comes back to you.”
Clearly, it’s a very LA story. As Badhesha’s friend joked on the social media platform Threads, “LA could rebuild with feet pics probably.”
Every dollar makes a difference. The wildfires are already expected to be the costliest in U.S. history, with more than 40,000 acres burned and 150,000 people forced to evacuate. As of Tuesday morning, Southern California authorities said that at least 24 people had been killed in the fires.
While firefighters have begun to contain major fires around Los Angeles neighborhoods like the Pacific Palisades and Altadena, the National Weather Service warned that high wind forecasts for Tuesday and Wednesday have put the city in a “particularly dangerous situation,” and flames could rise again.
In the interim, individuals, small businesses and nonprofits are chipping in any way they can.
Restaurants are offering free food to fire victims and first responders on the scene. In the San Gabriel Valley, an eighth grader started a group called Altadena Girls to hand out clothes and personal items (tampons, pads and pimple patches) to impacted students in the neighborhood looking for some normalcy. And mom-and-pop yoga studios are opening their doors to anyone in need of a good downward dog stretch.
“Many of our students and friends have lost everything,” said Jennifer Perry, the co-owner of ROAM LA, a yoga and meditation studio in LA’s Silver Lake neighborhood. ROAM is currently offering free or donation-based classes, N95 masks and three months of unlimited yoga to any first responder involved with the fires.
“I think it’s important to remember that a lot of the families affected by these fires, especially the Eaton Fires, are working-class people,” Perry said, referring to the fires that ravaged Altadena, one of LA’s largest historically Black working-class communities.
“There’s a lot of coverage of the Palisades, and that’s important, too, but what we aren’t seeing as much is the people who make up the community of Altadena,” she added.
Despite the challenges that LA is facing, the city’s grit and resourcefulness are what’s going to keep its communities going, Perry said.
“Our diversity, creativity and community are what makes Los Angeles the city it is,” she said.
Michael Zaldivar, the owner of Union Salon in Pasadena, is inviting anyone displaced by the fire to come in for a wash and blowout. He told HuffPost that dozens of people have visited and that the salon has also gathered more than 500 backpacks for local school children.
“One of our stylists, Anabelle, is an Altadena mom, and she had the idea to collect backpacks and school supplies for kids in the community that lost everything,” Zaldivar said.
“The key will be sustaining the enthusiasm as days and weeks go on,” he added. “I’m confident the Pasadena/Altadena community will show up for the long haul.”
LA and the Greater Los Angeles area are renowned for their food scenes, and many of those restaurants were lost to the fires. In Malibu, seafood spot the Reel Inn, as well as the iconic Moonshadows and Cholada Thai, are all gone. In Altadena, 69-year-old Fox’s and up-and-coming pizza shop Side Pie are among those destroyed.
To help these and other restaurants affected, FWD PR, an LA-based public relations and communications services company that focuses on hospitality PR, put together a master Google Doc of cooks, bussers, sommeliers, bartenders and others in the LA hospitality industry who have GoFundMe pages people can donate to.
“The news cycle moves quickly, so we will work to help support people who will need help for months and possibly years to come,” said Anne Michi Kleinedler Alderete, a partner at FWD. “We know it’s a long game, and we’d like to encourage everyone to think of this as a marathon.”
Those in the music industry affected by the wildfires are receiving help, too. We Are Moving the Needle, a nonprofit organization that supports women in the recording industry, is offering support to early- and mid-career producers, engineers and creators who have lost studio space or gear in the fires.
Meanwhile, MusiCares, a public charity founded by the Recording Academy (the group behind the Grammy Awards), is raising emergency funds for evacuation and relocation costs, instrument replacements, medical and mental health care and other essential living needs.
“This city is home to countless music professionals who work tirelessly behind the scenes to bring creativity to life, and when disaster strikes, they come together to lift each other up,” said Laura Segura, the executive director of MusiCares. “Already, we’ve seen incredible generosity from within the music industry itself, as peers rally to support those in need.”
Given LA’s rep for fashion and beauty ―and admittedly, for being a little image conscious ― it’s no surprise that retail and skin care brands are helping out as well.
“I know that pretty underwear and dresses are far down on the essentials list, but if it could help rebuild a wardrobe or make someone feel nice, if even for a moment, I would be happy to send over a care package,” Kate Bowman, the founder of clothing brand Kitten by Kate, wrote on Instagram over the weekend.
Alli Reed, the founder of skincare brand Stratia, said her company is donating free cleansers, lotions and serums to anyone displaced by the fires, with a member of the Stratia team personally dropping it off to wherever they’re staying.
“Since many folks lost their cars as well as their homes, we’re bringing it to them,” Reed told HuffPost.
Environmentalism and sustainable fashion are big in LA, too, and many Angelenos who own consignment boutiques are also stepping up with clothing donations.
“Our focus was quickly on clothes since that is what we do, but specifically collecting plus-size clothes and sorting them because there are so many stories of people who were getting to the donation sites and not finding things in their sizes,” said Marcy Guevara-Prete, the co-founder of The Plus Bus, a plus-size consignment boutique in LA’s Highland Park.
Plant Material, a plant nursery and local community hub in Altadena, is currently shuttered by the fire but still doing its part to help. It’s offering tools to first responders and residents of burn areas who are in the early stages of cleanup.
“Our experience in habitat restoration and ecology led us to collect tool donations ― things like snow scoops, rakes and brooms ― and the PPE necessary to support responsible frontline site recovery efforts and residents who lost everything in the fires,” said Matt Burrows, a co-founder of Plant Material.
The immense community response reveals the resiliencies of LA neighborhoods and their dedication to causes that mean the most to them, Burrows told HuffPost.
“The people of LA are not a monolith,” he said. “Many are thinking about the wildlife impacted by the scale of these fires, and it’s incredible to see human folks showing up for their nonhuman kin in this crisis.”
Some Angelenos are looking further down the line for ways to get involved, including John Kandalaft, an LA-based photographer who’s offering free photo shoots to anyone who has lost their family photos in the fires.
“There is no expiration date on this offer,” he wrote on Instagram. “It’s something small I can contribute to rebuild a tiny fraction of what was lost.”
In an interview with HuffPost, Kandalaft said he wants to help families hold onto something tangible ― “moments of love, resilience and hope” ― through his work.
“Many of my childhood memories are rooted in Pasadena and Altadena, so I feel a deep sense of responsibility to give back to these communities,” he said.
Because it’s home to Hollywood and wealthy enclaves, LA gets a bad rap for being self-absorbed and inhospitable. But the breadth of mutual aid available to support fire-impacted communities ― the feet pics for a good cause, replacement instruments given free of charge to impacted musicians, the donation centers at capacity ― is a testament to the selflessness of Angelenos.
“In a city as diverse as LA, we know that when one person suffers, the entire community feels that pain,” Kandalaft said. “It’s a reminder that, even in the face of disaster, kindness and empathy can be the foundation for recovery and rebuilding.”
