The flight attendant en route to Los Angeles tells me that many on the half-empty plane are traveling to help parents or children cope with all they’re dealing with. Next to me sits a 64-year-old grandmother from Boston whose daughter is about to have her fourth child.
“Her due date is January 21,” she tells me, “but things are starting to happen.” They live in Santa Monica, where schools are closed, and the yard is covered in toxic ash and debris so the kids can’t play outside. Grandma puts down her paperback mystery and says to me through her purple mask, “I have to go and help her.”
This is the reality for so many families across California right now. Wildfires have ravaged neighborhoods, destroyed thousands of homes and left countless people displaced. For many of these families, just putting food on the table has become a daily struggle.
At No Kid Hungry, we know that children who lose access to meals—whether because of school closures, displacement or financial hardship—are at an even greater risk of hunger during disasters like this. That’s why we’re stepping up to help. I spent the last days in LA witnessing the resilience and heroism of the community coming together to ensure no kid goes hungry in the face of this disaster.
Heroes in Tears
Earlier this week, I spent time at the base camp for first responders to the Palisades fire. This temporary city supports over 1,100 firefighters, police officers and members of the National Guard.
When I arrived, I was invited to ride in a fire department brush truck to see the neighborhood devastation firsthand. Nothing we hadn’t seen on the news, but unlike the news, it wasn’t over in a few minutes and there was no changing the channel. We spent hours walking among thousands of destroyed homes. The intensity of the fire and the ferocity of its wind-driven spread left an impression TV can’t. It was not something for which any fire department could prepare.
Even the most seasoned firefighters were struggling with the emotional toll. A 35-year fire service captain shared a story of another firefighter who came back into the trailer with red eyes. “’I said to him, ’You’re tough as nails. You haven’t been crying, have you?’ I couldn’t picture him breaking down. Then an hour later I spoke to a family who had lost everything, including their kids' swing set, and the same thing happened to me.”
Yet, through it all, these brave men and women kept fighting, slapping backs and hugging one another as they prepared for another shift.
A Community Coming Together
In Pasadena, at the NDLON (National Day Laborer Organizing Network) food pantry, where No Kid Hungry has provided support, I saw firsthand how people come together in times of need. An 18-wheeler packed with bread, soup, water, diapers and other essentials was unloaded by dozens of volunteers. This food pantry, located at a job center for day laborers—many of them immigrants who are hesitant to seek government assistance—serves families now living in shelters, cars and even garages after losing everything.
There were so many hundreds of volunteers, that some waited patiently for more than an hour for their assignment, whether to a fire brigade cleaning debris from the neighborhood, or to the food pantry, or the makeshift loading dock. It was a reminder not only that everyone has a strength to share, but everyone has a strength they want and need to share.
In the evening, we joined Mary Sue Milliken and the team from World Central Kitchen at the Arboretum, serving meals to evacuees. Families lined up for beef teriyaki, mac and cheese or rockfish salad, along with all the tangerines they could carry. Some of these families have struggled to make ends meet their entire lives, while others were facing adversity like this for the first time.
There is the usual blend of heartbreak and resilience everywhere you turn. But my take-away from sore muscles and a long day that went by in five minutes, is remarkably simple: it is deeply moving and infinitely satisfying to serve good food to people who need and appreciate it.
What Comes Next
The challenges of recovery and rebuilding are mind-boggling in their complexity. Toxic debris has to be cleared, homes have to be rebuilt, and families have to begin again. Through it all, No Kid Hungry is here to do what we do best: ensure that children don’t miss a meal, even in the face of disaster.
Our California team is working tirelessly to assess where we can have the greatest impact. Through the newly launched L.A. Wildfire Response Fund, we’ll partner with organizations like NDLON, World Central Kitchen and others to ensure that families receive the food and support they need to rebuild their lives.
If there’s one thing this experience has reinforced, it’s that everyone has a strength to share—and everyone has a role to play. Whether you’re donating, volunteering or simply spreading the word, you are a part of this recovery effort.
Thank you for being a part of this important work.
