People in the Tahitian Terrace and Palisades Bowl Mobil Home Parks have not received FireAid money, that was given for victims of the Palisades and Eaton Fires.
Thank you for your ongoing coverage to hold FireAid’s designate, the Annenberg Foundation, accountable for the more than $100 million raised in January. During one of our community’s darkest hours, the outpouring of generosity from around the world illuminated our shared humanity. It gave us the hope we needed with promises, “FireAid funds will support the Los Angeles-region’s immediate needs and long-term recovery from the recent wildfires…”
Because my past experience with the Annenberg Foundation had been positive, I waited until Round 2 of grant distributions to send this message. I desperately hoped to discover that the Annenberg Foundation had a staged plan to direct grants to specific constituencies in each round.
Perhaps Round 1 would be a very general distribution with often tenuous relationships to the fire. Round 2 would directly serve the rebuilding efforts of residents, business owners, and public spaces in the two Los Angeles communities that burned to the ground in a catastrophic fire. Not the case. While Round 2 connected slightly more to the Palisades, it’s a long way from who most donors intended their hard-earned money to serve.
My family and friends who lost homes do not have the bandwidth to pursue an increasingly constant refrain, “What happened to all that FireAid money?” As one of the lucky few who did not lose a home and had an outstanding experience with USAA, I am positioned to pursue an answer; to implore the Annenberg Foundation to be responsible stewards and focus on direct giving to Altadena and the Palisades in Round 3.
I encourage the Annenberg Foundation to look to the life-saving American Red Cross for its outstanding support of our communities. While residents were buried in administrative paperwork with FEMA, not knowing if anything would come of their applications, the Red Cross saved the day. The more than $167 million donations received for the LA wildfires by the Red Cross were divided into equal parts for every household within the fire perimeter. January’s bridge grant provided $600, followed by $3200 in May, and that does not include separate applications for aid. For countless neighbors, the Red Cross was a lifesaver.
Had the Annenberg Foundation adopted even an amended version of the Red Cross model, directing its over $100 million to all 248 businesses and 11,500 households who lost structures, each of the 11,748 would have received around $8,500 in direct aid. No administrative burden, no begging or debasing oneself required. If it’s correct that $75 million in grants have been distributed so far, then $25-50 million remains. There’s still time to pivot and award the 11,748 as much as $2125-4250 each. Why not award half of what’s left to a local nonprofit in Altadena and Palisades for a modified version of the Red Cross distribution. Or consider directing the remaining balance in equal parts to all the parks, schools and churches in Altadena and the Palisades to demonstrate responsible stewardship.
The obfuscation surrounding FireAid grants necessarily led me to research the Annenberg Foundation in an effort to make sense of distributions. When the Annenberg Foundation was not rated on Charity Navigator and other nonprofit auditors, it piqued my interest.
I proceeded to pull up its most recent IRS Form 990 filling. By way of comparison, the Red Cross is rated 100% on Charity Navigator. What’s more interesting is that the same filling shows the Director of the American Red Cross (nearly 20,000 employees) makes less money than her counterpart at the Annenberg Foundation (under 50 employees). Just another fact that does not add up…
A Resident
At the end of your last article on this topic, I commented about an organization that seemed to have received FireAid money, but hadn’t done much of anything with it: Centre for Applied Ecological Remediation (caers.org). As soon as I wrote the comment, I contacted them again for access to a webinar they had done on soil remediation, and received a response. Caers claims to have not received a Fire Aid grant, although they do receive grants from the Annenberg Foundation. It seems that the Annenberg may have one of those “accounting problems” where they don’t tag the source of funds and where it goes? Anyway, I don’t understand why a webinar that is meant to be helpful is firewalled and thus hamstrung by volunteer capacity, but I did enjoy watching it finally and learned a lot. This does not release Annenberg in any way from it’s obligation to tell us where the Fire Aid money has gone!!!!
It would be wonderful to hear a direct response to A Resident’s quries from the Annenberg Foundation. I just have one additional question: Who chose the the Annenberg Foundation to administer the FireAid receipts? Why not the Red Cross as the administrator?
Jane, you hit it on the head. Shame on Annenberg! I was a Red Cross recipient twice and both were perfectly matched with the needs of the time. No strings or feeling as if I was demeaning myself begging for help. The amounts were not going to buy a new home but I was so grateful for the sheer compassion and tacit understanding, that words can’t describe the boost to my ability to rejoin the flow of life again. The Red Cross even calls me occasionally to see if I’m OK or need anything. IMHO, Annenberg and other organizations could take a lesson in humanity from The Red Cross!
The distribution of the funds raised to help victims of the fire is super easy and logical: FEMA and LA County have the definitive list of all the homeowners who lost their homes. The former has verified bank account transfer information for almost each person who lost their home. Take the money people donated to the fire victims, divide it, wire it. No administrative fees. No fake virtue signaling. No fraud. Just transfer the money the public raised for the victims to the victims.
In an email from Anthony Marguleas, he links to his instagram video about the new Pal Rec Center play area which says some money for rebuilding came from Fire Aid.
“Every week, new businesses are reopening
The Getty Villa
Palisades Rec Center New Playground – click here for the video tour https://t.apemail.net/c/nqkvkbyokfkqkayadiha4d2udibq4biodjkqkuigdjkacdstbzkacaqdkqdaafi3auaqadygambrwbqhayaa6dqoauhrwbqgayhaedyoaeaaagyhdmkxs5qvdmkqcvagayhveflk-nqdbwfkcivnrkgyvpf3bkgygaqdqcaqedmaambifdmcaebapaqbqmgyea4aqcbygaynqkaiab4dagay3aqbqoaioaabaagyvkudq4ukvaubqagqobyhvigqdbycq4gsvaviqmgsuaehfgdsuaebagvagaakrwbqgayhaedyoaeaaagyvpvbfwtqxm5lfwxsekzjveraxpjlekxcsimlwoqs3irjbkgyvkrnv4vc4c5pverksc5ivqrixinpvef2blzjvewaxinmeerivdmdaobqab4ha4bipdmkv6q2di5ca2gayibaeagk6lfcegvsqivlfugkulbnbqryyon5wq4cbp5mgo73ziambkg2divbfegygaibq4gyvpf3bkg2zijnvwg2zijnvwg2zijnvwg2zijnvwgyvafkambqpkikwu
Gladstones Restaurant
Boca
Dr. Gary Polan, Optometrist
Pacific Palisades Veterinary Center
Palisades Pitstop Car Detailing
My apologies for the long link address!
In an email from Anthony Marguleas, he links to his instagram video about the new Pal Rec Center play area which says some money for rebuilding came from Fire Aid.
“Every week, new businesses are reopening
The Getty Villa
Palisades Rec Center New Playground – click here for the video tour https://t.apemail.net/c/nqkvkbyokfkqkayadiha4d2udibq4biodjkqkuigdjkacdstbzkacaqdkqdaafi3auaqadygambrwbqhayaa6dqoauhrwbqgayhaedyoaeaaagyhdmkxs5qvdmkqcvagayhveflk-nqdbwfkcivnrkgyvpf3bkgygaqdqcaqedmaambifdmcaebapaqbqmgyea4aqcbygaynqkaiab4dagay3aqbqoaioaabaagyvkudq4ukvaubqagqobyhvigqdbycq4gsvaviqmgsuaehfgdsuaebagvagaakrwbqgayhaedyoaeaaagyvpvbfwtqxm5lfwxsekzjveraxpjlekxcsimlwoqs3irjbkgyvkrnv4vc4c5pverksc5ivqrixinpvef2blzjvewaxinmeerivdmdaobqab4ha4bipdmkv6q2di5ca2gayibaeagk6lfcegvsqivlfugkulbnbqryyon5wq4cbp5mgo73ziambkg2divbfegygaibq4gyvpf3bkg2zijnvwg2zijnvwg2zijnvwg2zijnvwgyvafkambqpkikwu
Gladstones Restaurant
Boca
Dr. Gary Polan, Optometrist
Pacific Palisades Veterinary Center
Palisades Pitstop Car Detailing
My apologies for the long link address!
The money from the playground came through the L.A. Parks Foundation, which did received FireAid funding.
Sue