Some Questions on FireAid Answered, Committee Refuses to Answer Others

By CHAZ PLAGER

When I heard about FireAid and the lack of distribution of funds to Palisades victims or individuals, which seemed to be going exclusively to nonprofits, my editor assigned me to talk to people in charge of the money.

After repeated emails, I was granted a 15-minute interview with two members of the committee, who asked not to be identified for this story. The interview centered on the Annenberg Foundation, the nonprofit foundation tasked with distributing the money.

I asked how nonprofits were chosen for overseeing donations and was told there’s a FireAid advisory committee made up of many important individuals who go out, research, and review all applicants and grantees.

That advisory committee then presents their findings and recommends them to the FireAid board. Annenberg is a member of the advisory committee, but only in a volunteer capacity. They are working pro bono. Annenberg does not make any kind of profit from this whatsoever.

I asked for clarification. If Annenberg is on the advisory committee, and is also part of the distribution effort, did Annenberg recommend itself to the board?

The two people stressed that it is the board, not the committee who makes the decision on fund distribution.

They said they spoke to a lot of people on both sides of the aisle (victim and corporation and nonprofit). They said they are constantly in “listening mode” where they are prioritizing emergency needs like temporary housing and cash or cash equivalents to those most severely affected. Nonprofits that help those families were the targets of Round 1 funding.

Round 2 is about recovery, trying to give people the tools they need for rebuilding that suits them best. They looked at soil testing and mental health resources. Everything is about strategizing for what they can recommend to the board for which nonprofit receives grants.

They stressed as well that “there is a Round 3”– people are still going to get funding using their remaining $25 million in funds. They plan to wrap things up by the end of August.

I asked how many people are on the committee, and who. I was told they would “not be getting into this right now.”

One of the people said that the Annenberg Foundation took special care to go out to the scene of the fire and, with the help of the Los Angeles Fire Department, interview victims and investigate what funds would be needed, where they could be allocated, and which nonprofits could be utilized as part of their efforts, such as Chabad in Pacific Palisades.

It seemed obvious that individuals should be able to receive money directly — after all, the Red Cross was able to give out checks to families, but I was told that the board doesn’t have the capacity to give out money and checks to individuals because there is a lot of vetting involved. And foundations like Annenberg aren’t capable of granting funds to individuals either. What they do instead is go to trusted advisors and nonprofits that do have the capacity to do that and give them grants that will be used to support fire victims.

The refusal to answer how many people were on the committee, as well as simply mentioning a “board” and not naming anyone either in the committee or board struck me as strange. A customary dig through search engines did not identify any other members of the committee or board— or even that a board for the FireAid committee exists. Except the Annenberg Foundation, which self-identified itself as a member of the committee.

The Annenberg Foundation states on their website that the committee is “composed of longtime LA-region philanthropic leaders with deep relationships in the non-profit community, have been working to identify key areas of need, for maximum impact.”

In the next sentence, “Led by the Annenberg Foundation, the committee has been listening daily to affected communities, assessing local resource gaps to ensure aid reaches those most in need, and researching the handling of other fire disasters, such as those in Maui and Northern California,” led by the Annenberg Foundation.

From my call, the Annenberg Foundation was speaking as one of many members on the committee, but if they are leading the committee, that would imply their influence holds sway over the rest of the members— which leads me to think that the Annenberg Foundation did in fact recommend itself to the FireAid board.

I later called one of the workers I had spoken to and asked again regarding the committee and board. “I can’t tell you that right now” was the only response.

Seemingly simple questions like “How many people are on the advisory committee?” were ignored.

After that call, I phoned the Annenberg Foundation on the media line several times requesting a call. No one returned my request for information.

After that initial interview, I called Chabad, one of the nonprofits that had received a grant and asked them how a victim would go about receiving money. I was told they had already given relief to 800 victims at a public event, and they were certain CTN reporters had attended. We had not.

I was told that if one would like to apply to receive aid from Chabad, they “should email us detailing their situation and the aid required.” Neither the instructions of how to receive aid, nor the email to send a request is listed on the Chabad site.

Another Palisades nonprofit, Pali Strong, received half a million dollars. The founder Larry Vein said that he had not participated in community organizations prior to the fire. After January, he went to meetings and worked with Palisadians and different agencies. He helped create Whatsapp groups and has spent the last five months answering people’s questions and trying to relay information and provide hope.

On the FireAid website, click here. the nonprofits are available for view. It lists every nonprofit that has received a grant, and the money is displayed based on categories.

(Editor’s note: Plager has been asked to do a follow up story about victims in Pacific Palisades who have received aid from a FireAid nonprofit. Please email editor@circlingthenews.com about how you applied to, how much you received, through which method you received it, and any other information you believe would be helpful, as no organizations so far have been able to connect us to those who received aid.

Plager said, “I seek the truth, and want nothing more than to clear the murky details surrounding this whole debacle. Thank you, and God bless Pacific Palisades.”)