Look For The Helpers: An iHeart Special Event
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Hello everyone and welcome to an iHeart special event, Look for the Helpers. I am Rosalind Sanchez and I feel so blessed to be with you all today because as a resident of LA, I just want to help my family, I want to help my friends and my community at this time.

I don't know about the rest of you here in the City of Angels, but as I drive around, I do not only see the destruction or hear the stories of children who have lost their schools, parents who have lost their homes and jobs, but I hear and see the hope that comes in between. From the neighbor who is bringing food to their local place of worship, to a laundromat owner opening their doors for people to clean the few clothes they have,

It is driving to the grocery store and seeing the car at the red light next to me filled with donations on its way to get people who have lost everything what they need. We have talked a lot about the tragedy, but today I want to share with you the people who are helping, the organizations that are offering resources to wildfire victims and where to find them.

If you're home and you're wondering how you can help from not only Los Angeles, but anywhere you are hearing this, we're going to help you get answers. Today, we tell you where to look for the helpers.

My first guest today is first partner of California, Jennifer Siebel Newsome. Hi. Hi. Thank you for doing this. I wanted to, because I know you've been touring all these different areas and you've been pretty busy, you know, like dealing with meals and just helping people. I want to hear about stories, you know, that you're hearing from people firsthand that you go like, oh my God, that's really powerful. It touched my heart. Do you remember one specifically that just touched

Blew you away? Well, yes. So many stories. A girlfriend of mine actually lost everything in the Altadena fire. And instead of just mourning and licking her wounds and only focusing on herself, she launched a whole new website to an initiative linking people to childcare. Because we know that, I mean, you can't even attend to...

all of the administrative work required of dealing with, you know, FEMA and SBA loans and insurance and driver's license and all the things that, you know, were potentially missing or needing to be addressed with to get back on your feet and start the process, the planning process of, of,

you know, obviously getting your home cleaned up and then the site cleaned up and then beginning to the process of planning and then rebuilding. And yet she was focused on making sure that these women

predominantly had childcare, that their children could play, that their children could be distracted from the pain and suffering and actually be in community with other kids and be nurtured and have some semblance of normalcy. That's incredible. As a mom, you know, you're a mom, I'm a mom. This happened so fast and it was just so unexpected and out of control, right?

How do you talk to your kids and you explain to them, listen, we live in California. We are used to natural disasters. You know, it is what it is. I come from Puerto Rico. We deal with hurricanes every single year. And every single come August, September, everybody's like, oh, my God, what if it's about a year for us? You know, because you never know. But at least it's interesting with hurricanes. You kind of like I have the weather forecast.

Experts will tell you it's coming, it's coming. In this specific case, it was just like, it's here. Oh my God. It just became completely out of control. How do you talk to your kids about the tragedy and ways to help and just help them with their mental health? You know, so they don't live in fear that, well, mom, what if this happens again? Yeah. Yeah.

I mean, look, I think as a society, we've all experienced around the world, not just in California, not just in this country, trauma to varying degrees. And I think it's critical that parents are self-aware of their own anxiety and their own nervous systems so that they can really anchor and hold children who are so vulnerable and

My children, you know, we have four young kids and I ended up bringing them down to Los Angeles on MLK Day to volunteer because I needed them to be helpers. I needed them to be of service and to do their part in helping to anchor the Angeleno community. And so that is really...

One way that I communicate with my kids is through action and through service and through modeling that behavior. Simultaneously, I recommend that all families talk to their kids about their feelings and their emotions and understand that they're really complex. One of my kids is very...

very loud and aggressive when he's anxious and another one will not speak but does sort of impish things and can't put language to what she's feeling. And so every kid is different, right? And so which is why I love the resources that we actually are providing to all Californians, but in particular that are available to Angelina's right now.

We have different apps that are all free, evidence-based, resources, best practices, and access to actual therapists.

for children zero to 12, which is Bright Life and teens 13 and up, which is Saluna. These are two apps, again, available online with all these free resources to address mental health in this time period. We've also partnered with Child Mind Institute. We have a whole initiative in English and Spanish, Healthy Kids, Thriving Minds, which has been extremely powerful in normalizing

sadness, hopelessness, anxiety, depression, all the fear that we're experiencing, whether we live in Los Angeles or not, because again, as you mentioned, we've

had wildfires across our state really since just, you know, really when I kind of woke up to the modern climate change era was with the Paradise Fire that happened right before the governor came into office in 2018. So, yeah,

There are free resources. There's also a positive parenting guide through Child Mind that has a video series on coping with family and community stress, which again, this is not just individual stress. This is like community stress when you move to community in Altadena or Palisades. So again, I just...

I think then we've also just lastly, one of the things I try to do is introduce, I've introduced my kids to breath work and,

um to to you know to basically um give them their their own tools to like settle their nervous systems when they're feeling pretty anxious and um the governor's advisory council on physical fitness and mental well-being has come out with a whole best practice series on breath work mindfulness and daily movement so i'm always encouraging people when they can to spend time in nature

to anchor themselves with, you know, different forms of mindfulness and breath work. And we actually give people the tools for that. And so we're, we've been down in Los Angeles providing support and we'll try to do more because there are so many resources out there to help hold people while they're recovering from this horrific pandemic.

Yeah, it's been pretty. Losing their jobs, losing their businesses, losing their communities. Yeah, it's been pretty brutal. I want you to talk to us about California Love, California Strong. Yes. So California Love, California Strong is a campaign that we've just soft-launched.

around the fires to remind people that we're in this together to uplift what's already been happening, which is this incredible love that Angelenos have for Angelenos, but that all of California has for California and frankly, the world. I mean, again, we saw the president of Mexico send her firefighters and her guard. And we've seen the Canadians send their folks in the other states, Oregon, you name it, have sent folks in to help

And us recover and fight off this natural disaster. And so California Love, California Strong is really about this whole concept that there is this love that we have for each other and it's being exhibited and that together this is really, you know, the

This really is our strength, right? Our love and our care for our communities and for each other is really what makes us so strong as a state. And it's how we're going to get through this and it's how we're going to get to the other side.

You know, like say Phoenix rises from the ashes and California is and will do this and we'll do it better. And we'll obviously learn a lot from what happened and make changes so that we are safer and so that we can rebuild together.

Well, thank you so much, Jennifer, for everything you guys are doing. We truly appreciate it. What an unfortunate situation, you know, but I know it's been, it's, it's so sad. It's so sad, but great things come out of not great things, you know, and everybody's learning and, and we're going to rebuild as a community and as a city and come out stronger. I have no doubt. Thank you so much.

No, and I'm just so proud of that California spirit. It's really the California way. And it's what I think it's one of the reasons California really is the first in the nation and leads in the nation in so many areas because we are living together and thriving together despite all of our differences and despite this suffering. And, you know, I just it gives me hope. I have so much hope because of the spirit. And of course, people are allowed to be angry and of course, people are allowed to be sad. But the

The fact of the matter is like there are people, this is a resilient community that has incredible energy and fortitude. And that gives me hope. And it makes me believe in California more than I ever have.

Yes, I agree with you. And listen, this special that we're doing, I've been able to interview so many people doing incredible things, you know, and it takes moments like this for people to unite and just come up with incredible ideas to solve problems and to help, you know, and get inspired. You know, there's a lot of inspiration of people that never in a million years thought that they were going to respond to something and start helping and then get the immense desire to continue to help.

Because, you know, it's like once you get that fever of like, it feels good and I'm doing something good, you know, you want to continue doing it. So it's great. Yeah, no, it's great. Thank you. And hopefully California Love California Strong campaign will launch officially whereby all Californians once a month, at least on the first Sunday of the month, will give time, resources, resources.

love and gratitude in their communities and elsewhere. And that's really the spirit of what we're trying to launch. But it's there already. It's in Los Angeles. And again, this is what gives me hope and makes me believe that we can have a future where more people are other-oriented, more people are community-oriented, and more Californians are committed to being helpers. Awesome. I'm into that. Well, thank you so much, Nene, for having a great day. You too. Thanks for everything. Okay. Bye-bye.

David Chokachy is known for his role on Baywatch, but has really had his boots on the ground helping out in the policy community and beyond. As someone who lost his home in the 2018 Woolsey fire, he knows exactly how it feels to lose everything and have to start over. How are you doing? Hi. Thank you so much, David, for doing this. I truly appreciate it. You're so welcome. I'm so excited you guys are doing something to highlight

what people have been doing around the city to help people and help the animals. Yes, absolutely. And my understanding is that you launched, this happened to you in 2018, the Wesley Fire, is correct? Yeah, the Woolsey Fire. Yeah, we have our rental property out here on Point Dume. It's a beautiful house that this, he was a script supervisor I met on Baywatch. He was in his 70s at the time, but it was like an acre and a half, all fruit trees and berries. It's like,

And I had, we were living in this beautiful, it was like a tree house kind of thing. And I've renovated the whole bottom and we just made it ours. And my daughter was three at the time. So we, when that fire happened, it was the same time. It was so fast. By the time I tried to get out here to get anything out of it, they were already at that mandatory evacuation. And so we lost everything. And

You know, it's just a, it's, it's, I felt obviously much worse for my friend, Tom Moore, who lost the place because that was the sanctuary. That's where he found peace in the world. But it's, it's tough. And, you know, at that time, what happened was all the firefighters were spread so thin. And again, there's a fire station 50 yards from that house where that house was and they were gone obviously. And there was no water.

So since then, I was gonna talk about it later, but I'll just bring it up now. There's a guy here named, what's his name? Andrew, oh my God. No, Keegan Gibbs, who started this volunteer fire brigade because people have noticed, especially in this remote area of Malibu, and it's not that remote, but it's a little bit cut off, that if you're not resourceful and you're not aware of

and like capable of taking care of yourself, your friends, your family, your neighbors, there's a good chance you will, you're in serious danger when something like this happens because it happens so fast. Yeah. I mean, we saw like how fast that Palisades fire moved. And so they started a volunteer fire brigade

that's a legitimate fire brigade. It's like 60 hours of training. And I actually applied in November and I'm just waiting to hear back. But since the Franklin fire happened and this happened, like they've been so busy, I think they're waiting. So I'm hoping to be,

to become a member of that. But in the meantime, yeah, I've been busy like helping best friends as much as possible. - And I'm assuming you, I'm not assuming, I know you probably besides helping, giving lots of words of encouragement because you went through it. So you know how it feels and as a dad,

I am a huge animal advocate myself and I was so happy when I learned that you're helping animals in a very, very, very incredible way. And your daughter, how old is your daughter now? 13. 13. So talk to me about this experience that she's doing with you and what is it that you're doing with these animals and finding places for them and help them travel from one location to the next.

So what they've done, Best Friends Animal Society and along, there are some other great groups because I worked on a flight yesterday. And this is another great group also that should be mentioned is Paws for Life Canine. They do a lot of amazing stuff. But Best Friends has kind of...

Their main goal is to achieve no-kill shelters throughout entire LA by the end of 2025, which is, if you see the numbers, they've reduced it by something like 16 million so far. They've really taken a hard push at that. I've been an ambassador for them since the year 2000. I helped...

Because I was an actor and I had some visibility. There was a big pet adoption at the La Brea Tower Pits. And they said, hey, would you come walk these dogs down the runway and try to get them adopted? Because if they don't get adopted that day, they'll be euthanized the next day. The next day. Yeah.

Wow. I hate to say this, but I like dogs more than humans. I agree. It's okay. No offense, human beings. We love you too, but animals, they're very special. So that was my first introduction to them. And then we walked around that event and my wife and I saw this pit lab mix, and that was our first rescue. And ever since then, I've kind of been an ambassador for them. So

They were really smart. As soon as these fires started, they took action. They went into motion right away and started. They knew there'd be a huge influx of animals coming from, whether it's they're just fleeing and now they're separated from their families, or a lot of families have had to surrender their dogs because they've been displaced, or a lot of families, unfortunately, can't even afford to

deal with even like the process of surrendering they're in a place of survival mode where they're they're just like letting their dogs go out in the wild oh my goodness let me ask you how can people help you help them the best way people can help is to

go foster a pet, like even for a couple of weeks, because when you foster a pet, you can take it out of the caged environment. You get to take pictures and videos of it in a home environment. That's the real dog, you know, and then a potential family gets to see that dog like, oh,

okay, that's what the dogs like at home instead of when they show up at the shelter and it's all afraid and timid and like whatever kind of setting. So fostering, adopting, donating to the food pantry. Best Friends right now has a food pantry down in West LA. You can look it up. They also, where if you need pet food, cat food, any kind of,

supplies there for free. Or if you want to make donations to that pantry, that's another way to help. They also started a foster program on Facebook, Best Friends did. Those are like the main ways to help. Okay, perfect. Thank you so much, David. I truly, truly appreciate everything you're doing. This is amazing. As a dog lover myself, we need help. So please, please, it's a wonderful thing to foster a pet. It helps them. It helps the family.

It's much needed. So thank you so much. Yeah, you're welcome. You're welcome.

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Yes. That's when I knew. That's when I knew this might just work. Yes.

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Now I'm going to welcome Randi Jaffe, who along with her sister-in-law, Jenny, they launched the LA Lost Stop It Project, which aims to help replace beloved items like stuffed animals, toys, and blankets for kids who were displaced by the devastating Los Angeles area fires. Hi, Randi.

Hi Rosalind! How are you? Nice meeting you. It's so nice to meet you too. Thank you so much for having me on. Of course, thank you for doing this. We truly appreciate you and what you're doing. And my understanding is that, okay, so you and your sister-in-law, correct, Jenny, you live in New York. So it's 3,000 New York. You're 3,000 miles, Jersey, 3,000 miles away, pretty much.

The fires are in California. Tell me like what motivated you to say, you know what? I'm over here. That's over there, but I want to help. So I'm a mom and I'm also a child life specialist, which nobody really knows who we are, what we do, but we support kids and families through really challenging life experiences. Most of us work in pediatric hospital settings and help kids cope with hospitalization, prep them for surgeries and procedures and things like that. Um,

My job as a child specialist, I sometimes take kids back into the operating room when parents can't accompany them and I help them cope while they're receiving anesthesia and when they're going to sleep.

And the number one thing that I always say is let's bring that cozy inside. Let's bring that stuffed animal. Let's bring that lovey. Let's bring that blanket. Whatever is going to make that child feel safe and comfortable when they're going into the operating room is what we need. Once the child falls asleep, I take that comfort item and I bring it like it's gold back to the waiting room for the parents. Yeah. And I tell them how their child did falling asleep and I give them that precious comfort item over. Yeah.

And it brings them comfort. So when the wildfire started, I was devastated. Like I think so many of us were across the country. And I found myself wondering what would I grab if my house was on fire? And it was my son's, my three-year-old's mama cheetah. That's like this tiny little thing that was from like my daughter's school store. And there was no chance that I'd ever be able to find it again. Yeah.

And I thought about like all of these devastated children who have experienced probably hopefully the biggest trauma they'll ever experience in their life. And not only do they not have their home and they don't have their familiar routine and school and all of these things, but they don't have a comfort item to even help them to feel any sort of normalcy or coping. Of course, hopefully, thank God they have their parents and their family and everybody's safe. But

you know, a three-year-old, a four-year-old, a five-year-old, an 18-year-old feel safe when they have their comfort items. You know, I'm going to tell you a quick story. This is not about me at all, but this is how I can relate. Maybe nine years ago, before I had my second child, we lost our home, not because of a fire. We had one of the living rooms, the ceiling collapsed and they found asbestos.

So it was self-contained for God knows how long. But when that thing happened, it burst. So I remember coming from the gym and there's a contractor on the insurance company and they were like checking the air quality and they realized there is massive asbestos. This house is contaminated. You guys have to evacuate immediately. So we lost the house completely. What I'm telling you that I never went back to my house as it was because we couldn't because it was toxic and picked up my daughter.

from preschool. She was maybe three and a half, four years old. And he said, mamita, we're going to go to grandma. We can't go back home because there's been an issue and you're never going to go back home, but it's okay. We're going to get you everything. And she couldn't, her little mind couldn't comprehend. And all she kept talking about was, well, what about my blankie and Ellie? Ellie, Ellie was a little stuffed animal. Yeah.

And it was brutal and devastating to explain to her, you're never going to get to hold blankie, your blankie and Ellie again. And it was a, it was a big deal for her, you know? So I understand this, all these fires and people that lost everything in an instant to talk to their children, you know, whether they're three, 14, 12, seven, it doesn't really matter. And explaining to them live as you knew,

just change dramatically, you know, and to try to keep them at peace and at ease. People, so you're specifically going back to you, people will email you or they will send you a picture of an item,

And you will replicate, you will find that same exact thing and you send them over to the families. Yeah. So the power of the internet, we have an intake form on our Instagram page where families can fill out all of the information that we need to help find the stuffed animals. So any pictures, any descriptions, unfortunately some families don't have pictures of the stuffed animals. Most do. Any links, if they got it from a website, even Facebook,

five days ago or five years ago, any helpful information. And then we posted to our Instagram and the internet just goes crazy sleuthing. And we have lots of people that just will find these things in like under five minutes. It's unbelievable. A father reached out to me and he said my 12 year old

He's older, but he really misses this one stuffed animal. He was born in Amsterdam. It's from a zoo in Amsterdam. I looked for it. I'm sure you can't find it. And I posted it. And literally within 10 minutes, somebody reached out to me and said, I'm a former Angeleno. I live in Amsterdam. I live 15 minutes from the zoo. I'm taking my kids. We're going right now to the zoo to get this stuffed animal. And it's being sent to this family. And

When I told the dad, he was like, what? Oh, my God. Oh, my God. You found it? Like, he just couldn't believe it. And the truth is that people are so eager to help California. Like, people just want to feel like they're making a difference because we feel so helpless. It gives me goosebumps. That's amazing what you're doing. Let me ask you, how can people...

you, reach you to be able to help you help them? Honestly, we're doing so much through our Instagram, which has been really powerful and just posting the images and we've been getting messages through there. So that's, you know, really a great way to get in touch is just through our Instagram. We're reading all of the messages. It's only me and my friend Amanda. So we are definitely, we're getting through it, but it's just us.

So we're actually headed to LA tomorrow, which we are so excited about. We're going to meet some of the families we're working with. Oh, that's great. And we're excited. Awesome. And tell me the handle for your Instagram. It's la__lost__stuffy__project, correct?

Correct? So it was, but we realized that this project had legs and we want to help families just like yours. How old is your daughter, by the way? You said she was three and a half. How old is she? She's now, she's 13. So she's a teenager. Is she still missing that stuffed animal? Because we can find it. I swear. Oh,

- 100%, you know, I'm gonna be sending you a picture. - I am dead serious because our hope is to expand this and to get reach every single family who's ever been touched by a fire or a flood or anything that's happened that you've lost that comfort item. Our goal is to really take this kind of international. - That is so beautiful. - So it's lost_stuffy_project.

That's what it is now. Thank you. Thank you so much. I appreciate you. You're amazing. I appreciate you. Thank you so much for having me on. Of course. Bye-bye. Take care. Bye. So this next story really got me.

Dara Coleman is the wife of a firefighter at the fire station 69 in the Pacific Palisades. I want you to hear this incredible story. So I'm just going to welcome her and her friend Michelle to the show. Hi, ladies. Welcome. Hi. Thank you so much for doing this. So, Dara, this is really... I have so many questions for you ladies because I am fascinated about the whole thing. But first, I want to start with you, Dara. You are married. Your husband is a firefighter.

Right. We all know that these fires were so severe and just almost supernatural. You know what happened to the city. As a wife and also a mom,

You have your husband going to work 24-7 because it became an all-day job. I have a husband that is a police officer but he's an actor so he plays, he's acting. He comes back home after he wraps. Your case, you actually have somebody on duty for real. How do you handle going to bed and even navigating as a mom telling your kids, Daddy is going to

to save some lives and save a community. And it's very dangerous, but he'll be back. How do you deal with that? Oh yeah, that's, it's definitely tough, but Chase and I have been married for about 14 years now. So I like to tell other young firewives that you, you kind of get used to it. You get used to them being gone. And I,

I know that his work is so important and meaningful to the city that he serves. So, I mean, I just feel so honored to be a part of that, to be able to support him at home. So he doesn't have to worry about anything, but what he's doing out there. But as far as the kids, I mean, my kids are older, they're nine and 12. So they are, they understand a little bit more. I can explain a little bit more that, you know, that,

daddy's job is dangerous. However, he is very talented and skilled and he works with other talented and skilled firefighters. So we just pray and we have faith that he's going to be safe and that he will come home and be the amazing daddy he is when he gets to come home and give them hugs and cuddles and stuff. So yeah, it was tough early on, but I feel as like a veteran fire wife, there

There's definitely been some challenges that you just kind of lean into it because you see the goal overall of how important his job is. And how is he feeling now that his job is to help and protect a community? And when you think about the policy, most of it is pretty gone. So mentally, how is he dealing with knowing that his community, where he works at, is just so bad right now?

You know, the first, that first week obviously was, was so tough and, um, just hearing from him the first few days, how defeated he hurt, he sounded on the phone. Um, it was heartbreaking because I knew that he, he felt shattered by what he was seeing out there. Cause that was his city that he is committed to serve. So, um,

Overall, it's really heartbreaking thinking about everyone that's been displaced and been affected by the fires. As you know, we probably all know someone that's been affected. It definitely was tough those first couple of weeks of having to understand the emotional turmoil that he probably was going through during that time. I'm going to now go to you, Michelle.

What was your first reaction to the whole idea? Well, this is what's funny is that it was actually, I opened up my app and it was a Facebook mommy's group in LA and she posted a punch list of what she needed. And I've worked in interior design and like project management scarily for now, like 30 years. And I saw her list and I was like, I can do that. I can do that. I can get the plumber. I can get the mattresses. I know I can hustle and get this done.

And I said, I wrote on there, I'm, I got you, I'm messaging you directly. And I'm telling you, it went, I worked for them for two weeks straight, basically full time, like as a pro bono volunteer. And in that it's been the most rewarding thing. Her chase, her husband is like one of the most honorable, amazing people. And all of these guys are the same. They're just incredible human beings. And I,

I saw the need of... I basically segued them into being my clients a bit of like advocating for them and listening to what they needed. And I saw that they needed to get all that smoke damage out. And at the time, the whole system was so overwhelmed that they needed our assistance in that first week or so after. So it's like the second phase of recovery for them. And it's basically...

Their lives are changed. Like all of us are. Every single one of our preschool friends is displaced right now. I have a five-year-old son. Every single one of them is displaced either. Like I think 90% of them, one in Rustic Canyon didn't lose their house, but they're displaced still because of the evacuations. But every single one of our friends lost their homes and I just happened to move. So I'm housed now.

And I joke as a single mom, it's like, you can't stop a single mom with a good night's sleep, no preschool germs or a cup of coffee. And that's sort of like, they caught me on a good week. And I was like, I can do this for them. And here we are. And,

And then I brought in David Chokichi because he's married to a very good friend of mine. And he tagged team with me and we pulled up their carpet. And then we started getting phone calls from other captains. Like, how did you get this done? And then I started like, we started hooking up or trying to figure out how to help them. But like now the foundation, LAFD foundation is huge.

And I'm happy to help them. And there's a huge need. Like I went to the city hall last night in the, at Santa Monica city college to stay informed of like the next steps. And David inspired me a lot because he's,

been in the public sphere for a long time and he gave me really good advice about just like, this is the time. I just spoke to him and he was just amazing. And all the work he's doing with animals is really, really incredible. How can people help you ladies? You know, because for all the listeners that they're like,

from Los Angeles or even far away. And they are asking, asking, how can I help? How can I help? What else is needed for you guys to continue this mission? Well, for me, I feel like just...

You know, there's been an outpouring of physical donations to the fire station. So I think at this time, if people want to contribute, just contributing to the fire foundation, if they want to specifically help Station 69, they can make a notation to help.

you know, to contribute, allocate their funds to Station 69. There's a drop down menu on the website where you can choose your stations. Just interjecting. Right, right. No, you're right. And then long term, I mean, another organization that is so dear to our hearts as a fire family is the Widows, Orphans and Disabled Firefighter Fund.

And they're an organization that helps fire families long after the crisis is over. So that's also really important. So just two organizations that would be helpful. Beautiful. Well, thank you so much, ladies. I truly appreciate all you're doing. And yeah, I think listeners are going to really relate to what you guys are doing and get inspired, you know, and encouraged to also help. Thank you for having me. Of course. Bye-bye. Bye-bye.

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And

and invaluable collaborations that helped us become who we are today. That was one of the rare movies that I saw in the movie theater when I was a kid. And then I got to work with him and tell him how much I loved it. Plus, the door stays open for perhaps a third amigo. Listen to Dos Amigos Thursdays on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

I'm Arturo Castro, and I've been lucky enough to do stuff like Broad City and Narcos and Roadhouse and so many commercials about back pain. And now I'm starting a podcast because honestly, guys, I don't feel the space is crowded enough. Get ready for Greatest Escapes, a new comedy podcast about the wildest true escape stories in history. Each week, I'll be sitting down with some of the most hilarious actors and writers and comedians to talk about the wildest true escape stories in history.

to tell them a buckwild tale from across history and time. People like Ed Helms, Diane Guerrero, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, and Zoe Chow. Titanic. Charles Manson. Alcatraz. Sarah Shakur. The sketchy guy named Steve. It's giving funny true crime. I love storytelling and I love you, so I can't wait. Listen and subscribe to Greatest Escapes on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Now we have Dr. Pam McGee, the Executive Director and Principal of Palisades Charter High School that has suffered immense damage to this place in the student body. Hi. Hi, how are you? Thank you so much for doing this today. Oh yeah, thank you for doing it. Of course, no, I love it. Let me ask you, explain what happened to the school exactly.

So Palisades Charter High School, along with so many arts and homes and businesses in the Palisades, was severely damaged by the Palisades fire. On our campus, we're fortunate that our historic front of the campus buildings are still intact.

But more than 20 classrooms at the back of our campus, along with our study center, our media lab, which was brand new, along with computer labs, completely wiped out by the fire. That's unbelievable. How many students have been displaced?

So we have a student body of 3,000 students and they come from all over Los Angeles. Approximately 600 live in the immediate Palisades. All of those students are displaced as well as others that live in surrounding areas. So at this point, I would say all of our students are kind of scattered while we work to make sure that we can bring our school back together. Currently, we're

using remote learning, but not ideal for students who came through the pandemic and really do want to be in person with their peers and with their teachers. So much more effective for learning and just for social, emotional well-being. I know. I agree. It's absolutely devastating. And let me ask you, how long do you think it's going to take for you guys to be able to rebuild? And there's going to be any health concerns with having the kids back on campus?

Well, we won't we will not return until we are absolutely sure that it's a safe environment. I think we're in that process now of going through that whole examination and mitigation to make sure the campus is clean. As I said, the front of the campus could absolutely be used once it's cleaned, but it does have to be thoroughly clean. We'd never want our students or staff to be in a safe space that's not safe.

But once we have that, I mean, I think we may be able to return sooner, maybe rather than expected. So we can use the front of our campus while construction is happening at the back to restore the buildings that were destroyed.

You know, in situations like this, and now that the kids are homeschooled, the life changes, it went from one day to the next. You know, this situation was just absolutely horrific. And to be able to deal with these kids when it comes to their mental health and how to navigate. I know parents, of course, have their responsibility, and I'm sorry.

I'm sure they do, you know, talk to them and you go to the proper therapist, you know, a psychologist or as a mom, you know, myself, you know, you talk to them. But as a school that this came so unexpected and the kids are not homeschooled, but I'm assuming all the parents and the teachers are all relying on on the community of the Pali school. How do you guys deal with their mental health?

Well, you know, we've been really fortunate. I mean, our, our school has always, uh, really put mental health at the front of a lot of things that we do. Students have shared with us how important that is. And so we really tried, uh, even before the pandemic to invest heavily in having a mental health support team, you know, making sure that we're constantly sharing resources. This was, as you said, so unexpected, we've had to pivot, make sure that we're providing more resources that are out and available in the community. And, and unfortunately, uh,

all around us. I mean, there's so many entities that are providing those resources. But, you know, for us, for the parents and the students who are staying connected with us, they're absolutely wonderful mental health resources, counselors that students can speak with, parents can speak with, and also to help make connections that may be closer to their home so that they have those resources to follow up with while they're trying to get settled. I mean, there's so many homes and families where, you know, they are busy

don't have their home and then others where they've been impacted in other ways. So just really trying to pull together as a community to make sure that we're all working together to support each other and absolutely to support our kids.

Talk to me about Raise Pally, you know, the fundraiser. I want people to know how to how to help you guys. So Raise Pally is easy to access. If you you could either go to the there's a special link or just go to our school website, Pallyhigh.org. And there's a pop up that will come up immediately that will show you how you take you directly to the donation link.

We are working to raise funds to make sure that we're able to relocate. It'll be a temporary location, but you know, doing everything we can to get our students back in person while we work through these other pieces of cleaning our campus and restoring it. You know, we need, we need help as far as providing extra field trip buses. We want to make sure that during this period when we're having to rely on virtual instruction, we're still providing lots of opportunities for kids to be engaged and connected.

out in the community because that's what's really so important to them and what keeps them really motivated and coming and being engaged in school. You know, obviously it's athletics, you know, our athletics are ongoing, our clubs are ongoing, our performance, all of those are things that we're keeping happening even when we're there in this virtual moment and it kind of displaced from our campus. That's amazing. And all of those take resources. So however the community

A, if you could let us know if you're a studio and you're open to having students come in and look and see what's going on, our media class would so appreciate that. And the same is true with all types of hands-on activities, museums, but also helping us find ways to get the kids there, whether it's providing buses or just donations that help us get kids to athletic events or whatever may be open and available out in the community.

That's great. Thank you so much for that. That's very specific and that's what we needed. People want specificity, you know, so they know exactly what to do. So thank you so much, Pam. We really appreciate your time.

Thank you so much for having us on and thank you for supporting Pally High. Of course. Nora Weinstein and Kelly Sawyer-Patrickoff are the founders of the organization Baby to Baby, which delivers basic necessities for children in underserved communities. They were named one of Time Magazine's 2024 Most Influential People and are here to share with us how Baby to Baby has been helping in this crisis. Hi.

Hi, ladies. How are you? Thank you so much for being here with us. Oh, of course. Thank you for having us. So I'm going to refer to my notes over here. Baby to Baby has distributed over 6 million emergency supplies in response to the L.A. fire crisis. How have you been able to coordinate? Because it's a lot. It's just an incredible amount. All of this. How do you make it happen?

Baby to Baby, all year long for over a decade, supplies basic essentials to children around the country. We support a million children per year. So when something like this happens, we are prepared because it is our everyday work. While we're a national organization, we are very much born in Los Angeles and it's our hometown. So we have very deep relationships and know how to reach vulnerable kids at these moments.

We have a network of 470 partners in Los Angeles alone, and that spans evacuation centers, resource centers, homeless shelters, hospitals, schools. And so we were able to reach out to them immediately.

and listen and find out what their needs were in these fires, which are always very specific to children, like diapers and wipes and formula and hygiene items and cribs and car seats and strollers. And then we were able to immediately dive into action, sending our trucks filled with these supplies into in and around Los Angeles.

That's incredible. As a mom, and you guys are moms as well, how is it? How do you feel? Because the organization is doing incredible work. Incredible work. Like you said, you have a lot of resources and you've been very blessed to have the distributors and people that are supporting you and behind you. But at a human level, when you see these kids that they're in need and you guys are able to provide that and you hand that to that child, what does it mean to you ladies when you see that face just light up?

We were in Pasadena this weekend at a distribution and, you know, we're distributing basic supplies, basic emergency essentials like diapers and formula and warm coats and clothing. But we also try and, you know, add some joy for the children. So we build a toy shop and we do distribute toys, even though perhaps they're not an emergency essential. But to us, we want to see kids happy.

you know, have smiles on their faces. We want to bring back a little joy into their lives. And the resiliency of the children is amazing. They are smiling. They are hugging. They're giving you high fives. They're really incredible. And so as a mom, just seeing that, you know, we're both so feel so proud that we can help in any way right now.

That's incredible. People listening, you know, they're asking themselves, how can I help? What can I do? You know, and we're facilitating all these helpers like you guys. How can people help Baby to Baby?

It continues to be true that donating money is the most helpful, whether to Baby2Baby or any other amazing organization on the ground right now. And the reason is, is that it allows organizations like ours to do our work the most efficiently. And efficiency and timeliness matters a lot in a disaster.

But in other ways, we do accept big palletized corporate donations. And that means in our high need items. So that means that a corporation can donate to us

thousands or hundreds of thousands or millions of high needed items like bottles of shampoo and soap and cans of formula and clean water. We are not unfortunately taking individual donations like a gently used or even new item of clothing from an individual. And again, while we know how incredibly well intentioned that is, it, it, it,

burdens our system. And I think that for almost every organization in this space, and it doesn't allow us to do our most efficient work when we're getting in these palletized donations in such a high pressure time. So people can donate money. If they are a corporation, they can donate in these larger, more organized ways. And then they can also volunteer at our headquarters if they are in fact local.

Amazing. Well, thank you so much, ladies. What you do is pretty incredible and we so much appreciate it. Thank you. Thank you.

Right now, it seems like one of the busiest times of year for me, but Peloton has the variety needed to fit any season of your life. You can train at home, which is my favorite, in the gym or anywhere with an all-access membership. Personally, it's all about the music. I need a great playlist to pump me up, and Peloton has everything from reggaeton to merengue. Peloton and the instructors are on your time. Whether you need 10, 20, or 45 minutes, Peloton offers flexibility with daily updates.

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Yes. That's when I knew. That's when I knew this might just work. Yes.

and invaluable collaborations that helped us become who we are today. That was one of the rare movies that I saw in the movie theater when I was a kid, and then I got to work with him and tell him how much I loved it. Plus, the door stays open for perhaps a third amigo. Listen to Dos Amigos Thursdays on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Thanks.

Hi, I'm Arturo Castro, and I've been lucky enough to do stuff like Broad City and Narcos and Roadhouse and so many commercials about back pain. And now I'm starting a podcast because honestly, guys, I don't feel the space is crowded enough. Get ready for Greatest Escapes, a new comedy podcast about the wildest true escape stories in history.

Each week, I'll be sitting down with some of the most hilarious actors and writers and comedians to tell them a buckwild tale from across history and time. People like Ed Helms, Diane Guerrero, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, and Zoe Chow. Titanic. Charles Manson. Alcatraz. Asada Shakur. The sketchy guy named Steve. It's giving funny true crime. I love storytelling and I love you, so I can't wait. Wait. Listen and subscribe to Greatest Escapes on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

I love, love this girl. She has so much energy that it pops out of your television screens. She's using every little bit of it and she's helping communities in LA. If you are part of her contact list, let me tell you, she's going to be calling you very soon because there's nothing, nothing slowing down Ginny Mai on a mission. Bye-bye. Ginny Mai!

Thank you so much for doing this. Yes, of course. Thank you for having me. Yes. I'm a big fan and I'm even more now with all this work, incredible work that you're doing. I don't know how you do everything, but you do it all and you do it well. And I cannot wait for you to talk to me and to the audience about what you're doing, the Dream Center, how can people help, your involvement, all of that. Yes. Well, first off, thank you. Sorry. Thank you so much. I'm in the middle of...

mom mode and figuring out life like everybody else here in LA. So I just appreciate you being able to cover something like this. And we need the encouragement and we also need direction to guide people on what they can do. So I'm super here. Love it. So talk to me. What have you been doing? How can people help you continue to help? Talk to me. Yeah. So at this very moment, the great news is

is that it rained. We've been wanting that. We needed that more than anything. And it revived everybody. It reminded everybody to keep strong and be resilient and to keep doing what we've been doing. I think that the most amazing visual I've ever seen in all of the 25 years that I've lived in L.A. is seeing the city come together in every way possible. I never received one no. It was more of how and how much. L.A. poured when it came to

Outreach, servitude. This morning, I was just talking to one of the leading celebrity facialists in Los Angeles, Shani Darden, who graciously offered pampering for the first responders, the females who have not had a day off since the day of the fire. I can't even book an appointment to get in with Shani.

opening up her her her um her services because everybody no matter what you have you can give we all need to help in some way and so um the number one thing i would say if i'm encouraging anybody to help is first off still donate essentials are needed on the daily i would speak for the la dream center one of the organizations one of the only organizations in la that has not turned away donations because they have a line full of hundreds of cars every single day from six to

Sam all the way to 6 p.m. driving through getting donations of toilet paper, feminine hygiene products, diapers, baby formula, clothing we're good at. I think clothing across L.A. being one of the fashion capitals of the world, we've covered that. But we still need essentials as far as the daily living, the same things that you order daily from Amazon or Target. When you stop by Target, you stop by Trader Joe's. Those are the same things that we need in Altadena.

At this point, I'm not only continuing to donate and telling everybody to donate to Dream Center, but I'm also receiving donations for hot meals to be delivered in Altadena. Because at this very moment, the families still don't have power or running water. And they have strict rules to not cook and they have to be in water.

Perfume is 6 p.m. So if you can imagine, first of all, Ulcer Dina's freezing. At 3.30 p.m., I was there the other day, and it was 50 degrees. Wow. Imagine...

These families, if they've lost their house, they're bunking with some of the families that haven't lost their houses, their neighbors in that area. Or if they haven't lost their house, they're securing their house because there is a string of professional looters that have camped out around Altadena to infiltrate the homes. I think to date, I think about 52 different looters have been arrested by now. Wow.

Let me ask you something. Should we be encouraging, like, I'm assuming restaurants are showing up, correct? A lot of restaurants are actually donating meals and chefs are cooking. Is there more food needed? Should we knock on doors of more restaurants and people to just cook? Yes.

That would be amazing. If I sent out an Instagram post saying any local restaurants in Altadena, if you're working, if you're in business, we want to donate to you so that you can make meals or if you would like to donate meals, we'd love to take it. So Veros restaurant, a long running family owned Mexican restaurant has been incredible feeding Altadena. Another restaurant was called Woon's Kitchen. They've been a Chinese restaurant that's been feeding Altadena as well. So yes,

any local restaurants in Alta Dina, in Pasadena, anywhere in the surrounding area, let's keep the business alive. And if you also want to help support all of the businesses

the people that have been affected, not just people who have lost their homes, but the service people that used to help service the homes or the businesses around Altadena or Pasadena. I have a Google Doc that I can forward to you of babysitters, gardeners, dog walkers, every type of person that has been helping all of these displaced families.

Our job right now, if you are supporting LA, if you're from LA, or if you're just a friend to LA, we need people to help keep the ecosystem alive. Not only can you donate, but you can hire these people that have lost their jobs. You can help to...

contact the LA Dream Center who are organizing cleanup crews and they're going out in the next couple weeks to help clean up all the ash and the debris because as you can see, there's no way this is going to be cleaned up because we're already short on firefighters and service workers to be able to clean this. We need actual people to help. So,

The great thing about LA is whatever you can do, it is absolutely necessary and it can be welcomed. That's incredible, Ginny Mai. You're amazing. It's so much stuff that is needed, guys. And you know what? You know what happens, I think, with people because...

Oh, the fires are under control. Okay. So the news, they're not playing it as much. Therefore, oh, it's okay. It's gone. And people forget. And the reality is this is something that is going to continue the struggle of these families. It's going to contribute for a while. So it's not a one-time thing. And then I did my part and I'm out, you know, it has to be an ongoing effort because it's going to take them a while to be able to get back to what they consider normal. Yeah.

Yeah, and I want to emphasize, when you say a while, we're talking about something close to maybe 10 years to rebuild. I mean, we're talking about complete communities and lives that are going to be transformed as of now. You know, to rebuild the structures is one thing, but to bring the community together

back together so that it feels safe and it's thriving, that all depends on us. So we don't want people to lose jobs that they have to move away. We don't want to make housing so unaffordable that people can't afford housing. These are all things that we have to mindfully all do our part so that we don't change what the ecosystem was in LA, but we instead make it stronger because we band together.

But altogether, we need to all recognize that there needs to be grace across the board, whether you work for an insurance company or you could hire an employee that has been displaced or you can be mindful about just the community being shaken up and just be more gentler as we move around each other in this uncertain time. Yes.

us can do our part. That's amazing. Well, thank you, Jeannie Mai. Thank you so much. Please follow her on Instagram. You're next level. You're next level. And we admire you. And thank you for all you do. It's incredible. Yes, of course. And donate to Dream Center. Please donate to Dream Center. Call them, make financial donations. They are not only accepting donations to hand out to displaced families, but they shelter actual families who have lost their homes as well.

At this very moment, I think they've got about 30 families that they're housing. So just please, please do support Dream Center if you want to pick one place that is working 365 days a year and plug in and help out whatever you can give, like Shani Darden. Maybe it's a facial to one of our first responders. There you have it. Well, thank you so much, Mama. Have a great day. Bye-bye.

Havasol's mission is providing marginalized populations with footwear to encourage healthier lifestyles. Its founder, Ricky Mendiaz, is out in the street handing out sneakers to those who have none. Let's find out more about this story. Hi, Ricky. Hello there. How are you? Good, and yourself? I am good. Thank you so much for joining this amazing special that we have going here to help people. I want you to talk to me about...

Your story, because I believe that this is very close to you in terms of like, you remember the time that when you had somebody give you two pairs of shoes and that moment, I'm assuming it marked you for life. Yeah, it changed everything.

everything. In different phases of my life, it changed. Being a kid that couldn't afford shoes, it changed my confidence. Then into my teens and early 20s, it changed the way I dressed and how I put outfits together and confidence even through my 20s. In my 30s, sneakers didn't mean the same thing as they once did. I

Yeah, I started questioning everything, you know, sadness and just my career, like everything wasn't where I wanted it to be, you know, and I had all these shoes in my collection and I just wasn't happy. And, you know, one day I decided to give them away and use my, you know,

my passion for photography to tell the journey of the sneaker. So they, they started in my collection and then they went to somebody else that could use them more than me. And I changed directions and with, with the idea and just, um,

you know, deciding to give away my collection that was the birth of Have A Soul. Do you remember a specific moment of you giving away a pair to some kid and the reaction that the kid had? I do. I do remember there's many moments that, you know, we've been doing this since 2014. So there's just

you know, thousands of kids and young adults and, you know, even the elderly that we've been able to put some fresh pairs of sneakers on. But,

The first thing that comes to mind is I think maybe 2016, we were at a shelter downtown LA and we were doing something for the holidays and this family came in late and we were already packed up. We packed up everything that we'd collected for the Christmas event, toys, books, clothes, shoes, everything. And I just remember the two teen boys being very excited

grateful that we were there, even though they didn't get anything. So long story short with that, my friend ended up giving the shoes off his feet, a pair of Jordan 11s, Concords, probably one of the, you know, most favorite shoes that people in the sneaker game love, right? So they, he got those shoes and we collected the sizes for the rest of the family and came back another day. But he was, I think, 17, right?

Yeah, he was about 17 years old when my friend gave him the shoes off his feet. And when he was 21 years old, five years later, he DM'd me and was like, hey, man, I –

This is Elijah. Do you remember me? This is, I was like, of course. So now he's all grown up and he's like, I want to come back out and volunteer. You know, that, the, that week came out and gave shoes with us. So that, that's one moment that was kind of full circle for me. That's paying it forward. You know, that, that's incredible. One of those moments. Thank you. How can people help you make your mission? If they want to volunteer and join your, you know, your,

your program, how can they do that? Yeah. I mean, it's, it's a difficult question to answer right now because we're in the middle of just all this chaos that LA with the wildfires and, you know, some of our needs have shifted. So we're currently fundraising for, you know,

uh, sneaker gift cards for kids. Cause we're, we're limited on, uh, sneakers sizes for children. Uh, so, you know, we're, we're purchasing gift cards from different shoe stores, $50 a piece so that when we give shoes to the parents, we can also hand them a gift card and it doesn't feel like the kids are left out. So, uh, we're also running, uh,

Low on women's inventory. So if our women's sneaker heads out there want to give up some shoes, we'd be happy. Mostly looking for sizes 8, 9, 10, and then also like 6 and 7 would help a lot. Yeah.

So, yeah, I mean, we're just trying to make sure that we are lacing up the families that have lost everything right now. Yeah, that's incredible. And people, how can they find you? The website is haveasoul.com. Yeah. And then on Instagram, the same thing, at haveasoul, correct? Yep. H-A-V-A-S-O-L-E. There's no E in the have. Yeah.

But you'll find us. We're out there. We've been doing this for over 10 years. That's amazing. Well, we appreciate you. Thank you so much for doing this. Thank you for the invitation. Of course. Thank you.

Joining me now is Richard A. Youg, CEO of a very well-known Los Angeles charity called Project Angel Food. Governor Newsom and his family recently visited and volunteered their time at Project Angel Food to help get meals to the people who needed them. Hello! Hi! Hi! How are you? Thank you so much for doing this. We appreciate you. Oh my God, I appreciate you!

We're going to do, I have five questions here that I want to ask you, right? So we can cover everything, all the amazing work you're doing. So talk to me. I want to know how does a person react when you provide them a meal that otherwise they wouldn't have? You know, Project Angel Food has been around for 35 years. And we feed people who are sick, hungry, and alone. And we provide them with medically tailored meals. So it's not just food.

It's food that helps them get better. And so we are providing meals for people not just impacted by the fires, but impacted by illness and poverty. So there are layers of things going on. And so our founder, Marianne Williamson, says when you're delivering food to someone, you're delivering love.

And so what happens when you knock at the door and you wait for that client to answer the door, it is a huge warm of gratitude coming at you. That's what you feel. That's incredible. And what has been the biggest impact made on you personally through your work at the organization? You've been with the organization for how many years now? I've been here for nine years.

And I will tell you, if Rosalind, if you ask yourself, what's my legacy? I have asked myself that in my entire life. My legacy is Project Angel Food. My legacy is taking care of the most vulnerable among us. This is what my mark is going to be.

And so I feel every day that I come to work, I'm helping people. I feel it. It's tangible. We cook, prepare, and deliver 1.5 million meals a year. Each one done individually. Each one powered by people, volunteers, or staff, and delivered by volunteers and staff. How many...

people do you have? How many are part of this big machine to be able to accomplish something so huge and incredible? We have 98 people on staff.

And thousands of volunteers. Right now, I just walked from our kitchen here. Young and the Restless is volunteering. Every hunk, every beautiful star, they're all there. And I said, I got to go. I got to talk to Rosalind Sanchez. I can't be here.

I love it. And a way to volunteer is, so let me ask you, they help prepare the meals or they deliver the meals. If I want to help tomorrow, I call you and say, you know, Richard, I want to go out and volunteer. Where?

What exactly do I do? You could either volunteer in the kitchen. So you help prepare meals. You chop vegetables. The governor and the first family, they chopped vegetables and they also packed meals for us.

So we have these lean cuisine type trays. It's an assembly line. One person does the potatoes. Another person does the protein. Someone else does the veggies. And so it goes through a conveyor belt, kind of like I Love Lucy chocolate. That's a good episode. That's the best episode.

And then it gets heat sealed and then someone else puts a label on it that tells you what the ingredients are. So that's one thing. And then you can also volunteer to deliver and see the clients who get the meals. And you know what? That's really both are beautiful.

But I just delivered to one of the clients yesterday who lost his home in Altadena. All he says is standing is the chimney. And his name is Richard, just like me. And he's Armenian. His whole family came from Armenia. And.

And he said, you know, thank you so much for the meals. Thank you so much. We gave grocery kits to him. So non-perishable items so that if he has another emergency, he can take it. And we gave him hygiene items, you know, shampoo, conditioner, all gone. And so we also gave him a thousand dollar gift card from Walmart. And he said, the first thing I'm going to buy is

is an electric razor. Wow, isn't that unbelievable? Oh my God, it's incredible what you guys do. Okay, how has Project Angel Food had to change their normal operation in order to attack the need in the Los Angeles area? So the thing about Project Angel Food is we're here before and during and after a crisis.

So when the food trucks are gone, the evacuation centers are closed down, we're still here and we're still taking care of people. So what we have found is there's a lot of people who have respiratory problems or mobility issues and need food. In fact, I just got an email before I got here and I'll read it to you because it kind of exemplifies what...

happens here. My name is Anna and my husband and I lost our home due to the Eden fire. I heard of Project Angel Food through a friend. We're currently living at the Ramada Hotel in Pasadena. My husband has mobility problems. We have two dogs. It's difficult for me to get around. Can I qualify?

The answer is yes. We're getting Anna meals today. Oh, my God, Richard. I'm going to cry. That's amazing. So what we're doing is we're pivoting. Anyone with a mobility issue, anyone with respiratory problems in the impacted area, we're fast-tracking you. Where you call us, we're going to dispense with the usual forms and we'll

and get you in service. So we're processing about 100 people as we speak to join our service beyond the 2,700 we serve every day. Unbelievable. Incredible. God bless you guys. This is an incredible thing that you guys do, feeding people, helping people mentally, physically, emotionally, making them smile again. It

It's truly incredible. Talk about legacy, man. I'm going to go to bed tonight thinking, Ross, what's your legacy? That really touched me. So thank you so much for that, because it's important. It's important to go through life with a purpose and intention. And moments like this, when communities have to get together to help, you know how incredible you sleep at night when you close your eyes and you say, you know, I just changed someone's life today.

It's a beautiful thing. It is a beautiful thing. And I have someone who works here who packs our meals for us. Her name is Laura. And Laura said, what I know is the meal I'm packing here is going to end up in a smile at someone's home. Amen. And so I love that she sees that vision. She's never met the client, but she knows that she's going to be.

mile on them. People come here for the mission and there are people who come here for a job, but they stay here for the mission. Wow. Beautifully said. Thank you, Richard. Thank you so much.

Thank you for shining a spotlight on us. Of course. And thank you for making us one of those helpers that you're showcasing. Of course. Well deserved. God bless. And Rosalyn, I want you to come to the kitchen ASAP. I will. I don't cook that well, but I'm going to do it with so much love and so much passion that it'll be amazing. I promise. That's all we need. Thank you. Thank you, iHeart. Bye. Bye-bye.

BabyList of Beverly Hills is offering families in need a space to pick up not only strollers and cribs and essential gadgets for your children, but also realizing there is a strain on moms and providing them with personal health care products as well. Brand and media VP Molly Goodson is here to tell us how they have been connecting with the community. Hi. Welcome.

Thanks. And thank you so much for doing this. Yeah. Talk to me about BabyList and what you guys are doing to help the community.

Yeah, so we opened our showroom in Beverly Hills in 2023. So we've really felt like a part of the L.A. community since then. And when these fires started a couple of weeks ago, we knew we wanted to do something. And we just saw this opportunity to take this giant space that we have in Beverly Hills and transform it into a donation center so that families that we know are impacted that have lost everything can come and get some of those essentials that

that they lost. So we worked with over a hundred brand partners to donate items.

We had two days of donations, one on the 21st, one on the 28th, in which families could come and pick up things that they need, like strollers and high chairs and car seats, as well as, you know, things like breast pumps and baby clothes and breastfeeding pillows and all of this stuff that, you know, is not just a nice to have. It really is a must have, especially when you're expecting or have a new baby. Yeah.

How does it work? People, do you need an appointment? Do you need an appointment to be able to? No.

No, we have RSVPs, but people can also, you know, come in if they have an RSVP. We understand that there's a lot going on these days on social media and messages everywhere. So we just want to support folks who need it, who could come in. But most people have RSVP and just let us know which day they're coming. This helps us know, be ready for the flow of folks. And then when you come, you know, we'll chat with you and like hear a little bit about what your need are, what, you know,

age of the baby is, or babies, and we'll sort of direct you through the experience so that, you know, we make it easy. We don't want it to be overwhelming. We know this whole thing is incredibly overwhelming. And our goal is really just to make it as easy as possible and like work with brands that people already know and love so they can actually replace some of the things that they, you know, have had in their life in the past.

How is it dealing with the distributors? You know, you're making those uncomfortable, wonderful phone calls, you know, to this company saying it's a time people need this right now. You know, these items, a lot of them, they're not cheap, you know, but they're much needed. Like, how do you navigate that phone call with a distributor and say, listen, it's your time to step up? Yeah, well, luckily,

BabyList has amazing partner relationships with all of these brands. I mean, as a universal registry, we work with every baby brand under the sun. So we have existing relationships. And so really it was just about calling them up and saying, hey, is this something you want to participate in? And, you know, that's everyone from Bugaboo and Cybex and

Stoka and Bobby and BuyHard, just like every, the brands came out and they really wanted to show up. And it's been just incredible to see. I mean, it was way more than we ever thought. I mean, right now our showroom is just like floor to ceiling packed with these items and we just love being able to get them back into people's lives. That's fantastic. I think people want to help you and help you guys. Like,

What are the steps? We have all these listeners that they're listening to this whole special because they want to be able to help, not only from Los Angeles, from everywhere. What is a good way to support what you guys are doing?

Well, first and foremost, if you have a family in your life that has been affected, make sure they know about it. I think, you know, it's been really important for us to make sure that folks hear about it and know what we're doing so that everyone who needs it can get something that they need from us. And then we've had an amazing outpouring of volunteers, which has been incredible. And so we've had everything from influencers and celebrities just to brand partners and, of course, our own team working to do this. And then after that,

After we're done with these two big donation days, you know, we know we will have some excess product and that we're going to work and get distributed to other organizations that are on the ground and passing it and alternating in the Palisades to make sure that everything gets in the hands of folks who've been affected. That's incredible. Well, we appreciate it immensely. Thank you so much, BabyList and you and everybody that is helping. This is incredible. Thank you so much.

The company Free People has opened up a free shop in Santa Monica, California, where people can come and get everything from clothes to beauty products to food to replace their lost items. This company has stepped up in a huge way, and I am so excited to find out more. Courtney Wise, Managing Director of Brand Marketing for FP Movement.

- Hi, how are you? Thank you for having me. - No, thank you for being here. We appreciate it. So talk to me, Courtney, Free People, what are you guys doing to help with the victims of the alien fires? I've been following on Instagram and it's pretty remarkable what you guys are doing, but I want you to talk to our listeners. - Thank you so much. So first off, our offices where I am in currently are on Olympic and Euclid. So immediately on Tuesday,

I was at the office actually when the Palisades fire broke out. So could see the smoke kind of, you know, this is crazy what's going on. And then of course the devastation throughout the day. And then that same day, the Eaton fire broke out in Altadena and Pasadena. So just kind of so apparent we're in the headquarters here in Los Angeles. And then our headquarters are also our main headquarters are in Philadelphia. So talking to the executive team there,

Originally, my team on the ground, we started putting together a list of people affected in our personal circle. And as the list grew up to 80 between makeup artists, photographers, fitness instructors, influencers were like, wow, this is crazy. Just 80 that my team just has personal relationships with. I shared that with the executive team in Philadelphia and they said, you know what? Because of course, we were a little rattled on the ground. They're like, you know what?

We're going to step in, support you guys on the ground. Let's actually send units from our distribution centers. We have up to 10,000 units of clothing, 10,000 units of beauty and wellness supplies. Let's send those. So this was maybe kind of the Friday, I think January 9th or so. Let's send those units next week and see what we can do.

So over Martin Luther King weekend, we decided to put on the free shop. So our name is Free People. So we're like, okay, let's actually be so clear about what this is. This is a free shop. We also wanted a shopping experience. So of course, these are people that lost their homes, lost all their possessions. We didn't want it to seem just like a clothing drive. We really wanted it to be true to Free People and FP Movement, the shopping experience that

These are our customers. So many of them have had it in the store. So we turned our offices, our photo studio into just that. So into a store, about 30 racks organized by style, organized by size. And on the first day, the Saturday of the holiday weekend, we were out of product, 10,000 clothing units, 10,000 beauty and wellness units in the first four hours. And

And we just thought, this is crazy. In fairness, we strategically decided to just have ID, but not to have appointment slots, just because we didn't, we're learning just like everyone else, right? It was still so new, it was still so raw to people. We activated immediately the first week that this was happening. So in that point in time, just doing the best we could, I was like, oh, it might feel like a lot for people to go on their phones, fill out a slot, put in their address and all of that. So

Week in one that we did this, we thought, no, let's just have them come and see. And the response was just so overwhelming. There were clearly so many people in need. We said, okay, let's do this weekend too. But to have this best serve, which was just this past weekend, but to have this best serve the community, we actually had an intake form and we decided to have 30 people per half hour. So more individual people.

kind of shopping appointments. We did then bring in stylists from our store teams that were able to really help people put together their outfit. What are the foundations? Where do you start? And the response was just so overwhelming because we had people this past weekend were like, they're getting back into life. I have a birthday. So if you think about it, you kind of compartmentalizing, that's what we do as humans to help us get over trauma. So it's

this awful thing's happening in my life. I'm dealing with insurance, where to live, where to send my children to school, but I also want to experience joy. I don't want to turn down that invitation. Now going on week three of a friend's birthday, I want to go to that dinner. So what's something that's not just my sweats or the one thing that I ran out of the house in, what can I pull together as an actual outfit? So

We ended up having 900 appointments. That's incredible. I'm going to tell you something. This is interesting. So we had another special with Governor Newsom. And there was a woman who came on to talk about her concerns, you know, that she had. And in that interview, she mentioned how the free shop helped her feel more confident by giving her the outfit she used on Zoom to talk to the governor that day.

Wow. And I believe that's how iHeart and our producers, they... Here, besides Instagram, you know, and the big movement that you guys are doing, they...

clocked her when she said it, you know, because they did that special with the governor and she mentioned you guys. And that's when they went, oh, that's interesting. Free people, free shop. What are they doing? And here we are. So it was pretty powerful, you know, for that woman talking to somebody in a position of a political figure. This is how important that was for her at that moment in time that she felt compelled

to tell this human being, I feel confident because I had this company do this for me. I'm so happy. Amazing. The ultimate. And that's really confidence. What we, what we serve as a, as a clothing and active wear brand, that's really what we just deliver. So that's the ultimate, um,

And that's the ultimate empowerment that I feel about in my position, in my job. I'm like, wow, we really actually are achieving the mission that we set out to do too. Very much. Very, very much. And how can people help? You know, how can people help you guys amplify? Is there a shot? Are you going to do another one of these? Like what's coming for you guys? Yeah. So I think after two weekends in a row,

you know, we feel like we've made the current impact when people are still in temporary housing, still figuring that out in the future when the communities are, when people are back in their homes and kind of rebuild and people can acquire more, more belongings. It's something that we would definitely love to do again. So definitely a, a, a to be determined date that could be in a year from now, whenever that might be. Um,

For the immediate, I think just everyone be kind, be kind to strangers themselves, neighbors, and to our first responders and firefighters. We also donated to the California Fire Foundation. So if anyone's looking to make

a monetary donation. There are so many wonderful organizations. Um, I think any of our local firehouses, LA fire foundation, I know baby to baby does a lot in helping young mothers, young families. Um, we support girls Inc as an ongoing foundation with, um, with FP movement. So I think any of those organizations, and then as soon as we have another drive, everyone can look out on our Instagram and just to share that with, with family, with friends, um,

All of that. So we'll definitely keep you, keep everyone abreast of, of the future. We do have some units left. I believe your team is going to help me connect with the Palisades high school. Perfect. Yes. So we love that. And then we're going to connect to it with all to Dino girls too, because everybody loves free poop. Well, everyone from, from teenagers to, to grandmothers,

I am such a huge fan. You have no idea. I love the brand and it makes me so happy to know that I actually shop at a place that makes a difference. And then you guys take the time to actually give back to the community, you know? So I'm going to keep, I'm going to shop even more because I know you guys are doing things for the purpose. That means a lot.

Thank you so much. I really appreciate it. And every day at FP Movement, 1% of your purchases every day go to Girls Inc. So that's a national foundation. And at Free People, we also have a partnership with the National Park Service. So if you don't take a bag in the store...

we have recyclable bags but if you don't take a bag 10 cents does go to the national park foundation so try to give it back phenomenal well thank you so much thank you so much for having me of course so there you have it guys i hope that this was of much help you know um those of you that know me they they

We have talked about this on our podcast. He said, with my husband, Eric Winter, we have a final thought every single night before we go to bed and we talk to each other about things that are important. My final thought after listening to all these organizations and all these wonderful people helping building community and just doing incredible work. I'm inspired. I'm inspired. There's so much that we can do.

from your house, you know? Just go to a website, donate. Just go to one of these organizations and prepare some meals. Just...

There's so much that you can do. You don't have to be in LA to be able to do it. And if you're physically here, there's nothing more beautiful than helping somebody, especially in a time of need. And I'm going to be doing that. I'm going to encourage and teach my kids of the importance of doing this. What happened to Los Angeles, to our beautiful community, it's been devastating. And this is going to, it's going to take years to rebuild. So any, any help is so welcome and so needed. So thank,

Yeah. Thank you for listening. We appreciate you. God bless.