When the Archdiocese of Los Angeles set up the donation portal for the Wildfire Victims Emergency Relief Fund, organizers were hoping for a groundswell of local support.
They got it, in so many ways.
What they didn’t necessarily expect was the outpouring of support from parishes, schools, and religious organizations outside the area, ranging from Las Vegas, to Hawaii to Boston, and outside of the United States.
In amounts both big and small, donors across the country have sent in assistance to LA wildfire victims in the form of money, gift cards, clothing, toiletries, and handmade cards.
The Dioceses of Washington, D.C., Knoxville, Tennessee, Rockford, Illinois, Paterson, New Jersey, Honolulu, Las Vegas, Orange County, and San Diego all sent donations.
A Catholic parish near Chicago donated funds because church leaders remembered how devastated they were after a tornado ripped through its neighborhood. Students at St. Mary's School in Maryland created hundreds of handmade Cards of Hope along with gift cards to send to affected families. Church leaders from a parish and school in Kansas drove a supplies-filled truck across the country to deliver to those affected by the fires.
Other groups got creative in how they raised funds.
A Catholic school near Philadelphia used a pep rally days before their local Eagles won the Super Bowl to raise money for LA fire victims. A San Francisco-area Catholic school student organized a bake sale to donate funds to help animals affected by the fires. Holy Cross School in New York said it was donating its recent jog-a-thon earnings to the Catholic Education Foundation of Los Angeles’ tuition fund.
St. John of God Church in Norwalk decided to forego a grand celebration for its 75th anniversary and instead sent those funds raised to the archdiocese.
“It’s just been an amazing experience of really being Church, being the family of God, being brothers and sisters to each other,” said Sister M. Anncarla Costello, SND, the archdiocese’s chancellor, who has been the linchpin for the relief fund.
The archdiocese’s fire relief fund has since been giving $1,000 checks to those affected by the wildfires at any parish in the region. So far, more than 40 parishes in the archdiocese have given checks to more than 2,000 households.
St. Monica Church in Santa Monica has been one of the main hubs for those seeking assistance, having given out nearly 1,000 relief checks so far, said Felipe Sanchez, the parish’s director of administration.
Due to a couple of unique partnerships, St. Monica has had its share of donations from those in far-off places.
When the COVID-19 pandemic first hit, forcing churches into livestream Masses, St. Monica received a significant influx of out-of-state and global online visitors who stuck around even when in-person restrictions were lifted.
Msgr. Lloyd Torgerson, St. Monica’s longtime pastor, still meets on the first Monday of each month with this online contingent, many of whom live as far away as Ireland and South Africa.
When the fires struck, the group online asked how they could help. Torgerson mentioned the donation portal and several sent in their funds right away. Others mailed gift cards.
Similarly, a friend of St. Monica’s — Father John Unni at St. Cecilia Church in Boston — called to ask how his flock could help, and his parish took a collection with proceeds sent to LA.
“They were somehow touched by what had happened, and their heart were filled with generosity,” Sanchez said. “They were able to extend that generosity all the way to us here in California.”
In Toledo, Ohio, the horrifying images from the Southern California fires prompted the pastor at Christ the King Church, Father Dave Nuss, to ask his staff: Did anyone have a connection in Los Angeles?
Only one did: Sister Mary Delores Gatliff, SND, who belongs to the same order as Sister Costello in Los Angeles.
On the day Gatliff called Costello to ask how Christ the King could help, the LA chancellor told her: “Oh, my goodness, is this a sign of God’s providence?”
The archdiocese’s relief fund had just been readied to accept donations.
Christ the King took a collection and sent thousands of dollars in donations, Gatliff said, with more money still rolling in.
“We know that it is directly going to families that have lost everything or are in desperate need right now, and that brings us joy,” Gatliff said. “It gave us all a sense of hopefully giving these people a bright future, or at least a sign to them that people even far away care about them and want to help.”
Christ the King has made it a point to identify a needy cause outside of its area to send a monthly collection to. The practice has transformed its parishioners and helped them just as much as they’ve helped others.
“Our parish has much more a sense of community and trying to develop in people a personal relationship with Jesus, because if they have that, they will want to do as Jesus did,” Gatliff said.
As fire relief funds continue to be doled out, Costello is proud that the archdiocese has been the “conduit” for bringing some measure of comfort to those affected, whether they’re Catholic or not.
“You don’t have to be Catholic, you don’t have to be Christian, you don’t have to be documented,” she said. “We’ve given grants to Hindus and Buddhists and who knows who else because no matter what, they’re part of the human family.”
Fire victims who still require assistance can inquire at the following parishes: Holy Angels Church in Arcadia, St. Monica Church in Santa Monica, Sacred Heart Church in Altadena, St. Bede the Venerable Church in La Cañada Flintridge, St. Didacus Church in Sylmar, Sacred Heart Church in Pomona, Dolores Mission in Boyle Heights, St. Martin of Tours Church in Brentwood, and St. Joseph Church in Hawthorne.
Those who wish to donate can visit lacatholics.org/california-fires.
