By Lisa Richwine and Dawn Chmielewski
ARCADIA, California (Reuters) – Yuri Williams donned a red superhero costume and hauled $2,000 worth of toys to a temporary Los Angeles-area donation center on Sunday, hoping to bring cheer to people displaced by this week’s devastating wildfires.
A child waved and shouted “Hi, Deadpool!” to Williams as he offered them crayons, street chalk, board games and more. Teenagers approached and asked for selfies.
Williams was one of hundreds offering help at a donation center staged at the Santa Anita Park racetrack in Arcadia, a city close to the Eaton Fire.
“People need a distraction, and I’m here to be the distraction,” Williams said, promising to be back on Monday. “Maybe I’ll bring Wolverine with me.”
Angelenos, often stereotyped as superficial and self-centered, have rallied this week to support the tens of thousands of people who were displaced by wildfires that were still burning on Sunday.
Volunteers waited in long lines for an opportunity to help. They were divided into groups to sort clothing, direct traffic or handle other tasks. Many wore masks to protect from the wildfire smoke in the air.
In between boxes of clothing, diapers, canned goods and kitchen supplies, Ganna Bubnova waved a sign that read “Free Ukrainian Food.” Olha Leonova, who left Ukraine two years ago after the invasion by Russia, stood next to her holding a tray of bread and bowls of borscht, a traditional Ukrainian dish.
“I know how it feels to lose your home and to be in a situation when you have nothing,” Leonova said. “It’s really nice to be able to pay back and to help others as much as they helped me.”
The Santa Anita effort began when street vendor Jimmy Medina Jr. announced on TikTok that he wanted to serve hot dogs to firefighters. People who had been inundated with images of destruction jumped at a chance to do something positive, he said.
“From there it just blew up,” Medina said.
He initially provided food at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena. After the effort swelled, it was moved to the Santa Anita site.
The overflowing parking lot was just one of many relief efforts across the region.
Hollywood celebrities and stylists cleared out their closets to donate clothing. At least 13 taquerias were offering free tacos to first responders, according to the L.A. Taco website.
Pasadena Humane, which is sheltering dogs and other animals displaced by the fire, had five U-Haul trucks full of donated supplies and lines of cars stretching around the block to give more, President and CEO Dia DuVernet said.
Yesenia Ortega, who grew up in the San Fernando Valley area of Los Angeles, drove 40 miles (64 km) from her current home with her 16-year-old daughter to volunteer with another mother and daughter.
“When disaster comes, we just become one,” she said. “We all become a family.”
Anastasia Anderson, also a volunteer in Arcadia, said “it’s times like this where your neighbor is one of the most important people.”
“The government hasn’t come in to assist yet, so this is all just neighbors helping neighbors,” Anderson said, adding it was “really, really nice to see, especially during a time where we’re really divided on various issues.”
(Reporting by Lisa Richwine and Dawn Chmielewski; Additional reporting by Matt M. McKnight; Editing by Frank McGurty and Sandra Maler)
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