Acts of Kindness Amidst LA Wildfires

0:03 Caalaroga Shark Media. Hey there, Johnny Mack with five good news stories. I thought it'd take a look at some of the good coming out of the horrible situation in Los Angeles with the wildfires. Jennifer Garner is working with chef Jose Andres and the World Central Kitchen to help feed neighbors who evacuated. Jennifer also shared that she had lost a friend in the fires. People reported that Jennifer is helping the team bring meals from restaurants and food truck partners to first responders and families affected by the fires. Jose Andres, a nonprofit, has provided food relief during international crisises since twenty ten. Goarner told Katie Kuric, first of all, zero percent of this is about me, because I am a home and I'm safe. I'm not a spokesperson for people have gone through this, but it's pretty devastating to witness. Obviously, I think everyone is in shock, and honestly, Katie, I think it hasn't even begun to hit us. Garner talked about her past work with the nonprofit Save the Children, telling Katie kirk when I've gone to flood sites or hurricane evacuations or just disaster relief. You go scared of what you're going to see, and you always come away filled with hope and with faith in humanity. And that's the opportunity here. The first thing you do is feed people, and that's what Jose has done. So I just reached out to him through Save and I said, how can I put my hands to work? And I'm lucky. I know everyone in LA is desperate to be put to work, and there are so few ways to do it. I did get to shoot to the top with chef, which is very, very lucky. More than twenty thousand people have signed up to donate clothes and essentials to LA fire victims through an online secondhand marketplace. Seconds Markets, a clothing

1:35 organization based in LA normally buys gently use clothes from locals and hosts pop up sales in the LA area. They've decided to use their platform to connect Californians in need with clothing donors. Within forty eight hours, they said twenty thousand donors had signed up. The donors will be connected with someone who requested support based on clothing size, age, and gender. They're also going to set up a free store so locals can shop for what they need to. Airbnb is providing free temporary housing for people who've been displaced. They're working with two point one La, which serves La County, to offer free temporary housing. Stays are completely free for guests and are funded by Airbnb dot Org. Some other companies making donations. Walmart said they'll donate two and a half million dollars worth of cash, food, and water. Kroger Groceries has pledged one million dollars. Disney pledged fifteen million dollars.

2:22 Paramount donated one million dollars to relief efforts with donations to the American Red Cross, the LA Fire Department Foundation, the California Fire Foundation, Direct Relief, World Central Kitchen, and the Best Friends Animal Society. Beyonce's Bay Good Foundation set on Sunday they would donate two and a half million dollars to the LA Fire Relief Fund. Hallie Berry posted on Instagram telling fans who took her entire closet to a home goods store. Barry said, I'm from Meadville, Pennsylvania, and a famous quote from Margaret Mead says, never forget that a group of thoughtful, committed citizens can make a difference. This is something we can do right now today to help all the displaced families that are in need of the basics. Jamie Lee Curtis announced a one million dollar gift to those impacted by the natural disaster, writing on Instagram, she's in communication with the governor, Mayor Bass, and Senator Adam Schiff as to where those funds should go. The website, LAist shared that you know you want to help, but you may need to resist the temptation to jump right in.

3:15 It could cause more trouble for organizations already in place. A post from the City of Pasadena on Twitter stated, the City of Pasadena and all the first responders across the city are incredibly grateful for the donations of food and other items. However, at this time, we're overwhelmed with the amount and we are no longer accepting additional donations. Again, that was on Thursday, and recording this on Monday afternoon, LAist reminds us one quick way to know what an agency does or does not need is to check their website and social media channels. Trying to donate objects like closed blankets and food can be difficult, and you can't just show up and volunteer organizers like the Red Cross say it takes a bit of time before you get and become a volunteer. It may take a week of training before they can deploy you to actually assist people.

3:56 If you want to find out more about this particular story, here over to last LAist and they've got a whole bunch of resources on their web page. And good news for Oriol the dog. Oriol the Dog was reunited with owner Casey. They had been separated for five days during the fires. Casey was worried Oreo had been killed. In a video that has gone viral, Casey was filmed spotting Oreo through a neighbor's gate, then crying as oriole jumped into his arms. Casey said, oh honey, Oh my god, you're alive. You're alive. Casey was at work when he had to evacuate his house. He spent five hours in traffic trying to get home to save his dogs, Orio and Tikatikatika. Casey had been filmed trying to get home in a different news report. He told the news reporter, I literally rescued them off the streets. They deserve better than this. How do I get to my house. He couldn't get home. A firefighter offered to search for the dogs.

4:47 The firefighter found Tikatikatika, but Oriole ran off into the neighborhood soon after Casey's house burned to the ground. After returning to what was left of his home with a professional dog catcher, Casey found Oriol high amid the dirt and debris left behind after the fire. While I have you, I tweaked a publishing schedule. In the past, the show has been Monday, Wednesday, Friday. I'm going to try for a little bit to do Sunday, Tuesday, Thursday. Why Johnny Mack. I saw a lot in the fourth quarter, especially when we were doing the Christmas episodes, that the Sunday publishing day did really well. So I just pulled everything back a day. You still get three week consider it that you're getting it early. So this is a bonus episode. This is separate from the main continuity of five Good News stories like did I do five today or eleven or none at all? Depends on your perspective. But this was a subject I did want to talk about, and I thought it fit the vibe of the show. So you'll have a regular episode on Tuesday, Thursday, and Sunday heading forward, and that's today's episodes of the podcast called Five Good News Stories Again. I don't know if I did five, and I don't know if this is all that good news, but trying to inject a little positivity into just a horrible story.