Eva Longoria is pledging a seven-figure sum after days of devastating wildfires have ravaged Los Angeles.
The LA wildfires, brought about by unprecedented January conditions, have ravaged thousands of structures. Countless people, including many celebrities, have fled their homes.
As millions fear that the city and county will never be the same again, everyone wants to know what they can do to help.
Among them is Eva Longoria. In addition to previous financial contributions, she’s putting $1 million towards relief after the fires.
Though Eva Longoria is pledging $1 million, she’s not donating alone
TMZ reports that Eva Longoria and her eponymous foundation are putting $1 million towards helping those displaced by the Los Angeles wildfires.
The seven-figure sum originates not from her personal account, but from a $50 million fund that she earned in 2024.
When Eva Longoria received the Bezos Courage and Civility Award, she also received $50 million to help charitable causes that she deems worthy. And this one is certainly worthy.
Longoria received the award in March of 2024. She has a full decade to award the money to various causes.
She is specifically donating the $1 million to Julian Castro’s Latino Community Foundation and the California Community Foundation.
The goal is to help with both immediate needs (blankets, food, water, clothing, shelter, etc.) and long-term needs of people whose lives have been consumed by this inferno.
As Eva Longoria knows, thousands are in need
This is not just one wildfire. Numerous fires erupted under these same conditions. Most dramatically, after a summer of record heat, this winter — normally the “rainy season” in Southern California — has been jarringly dry.
Without that rainfall, there has been little to nothing to stop every spark from igniting a new blaze.
These fires have consumed over 12,000 structures in and around Los Angeles. Despite hard work by firefighters and relief workers, the devastation is almost unfathomable.
These fires — and the conditions that brought them about — do not have to happen.
Humanity as a whole can course-correct on climate change. Can — but, sadly, won’t. Not by choice.
Even if every single person (namely, the few thousand whose industries actually contribute to climate change in a meaningful manner and government officials who enable them) resolved to fix things … it would not undo this catastrophe. It would only prevent countless more just like it.
Many wonder what they can do to help
Basically no one has resources like Eva Longoria’s charitable war chest, let alone Jeff Bezos levels of money. While people like most charitable person in history Mackenzie Scott are likely to help extensively, this is not on any one person.
Most people recommend donating to organizations like the American Red Cross. And, of course, if you personally know someone from Los Angeles who has had to flee their home, offering shelter can be life-changing. Even just letting someone charge their phone and shower at your home can be a tremendous help.
Speaking as someone who was recently at the epicenter of a very different disaster, the World Central Kitchen is one of the best resources for providing immediate aid to frontline relief workers and to people who are displaced, unable to work, and unable to access basic goods and services. People need to eat.
