Q. I want to help people impacted by the Eaton Fire--should I donate to an online fundraiser?

Thank you for wanting to do something helpful to your neighbors and community! The City of Pasadena has an Eaton Fire Updates webpage with trustworthy and vetted ways to donate to others: https://www.cityofpasadena.net/eaton-fire/.  

Additionally, you can find resources on the Los Angeles County's Emergency Response page for information on trustworthy agencies accepting donations: https://recovery.lacounty.gov/donations/.

You may be particularly motivated to help individual families or others you know personally, via sites like "GoFundMe" and other crowdsourcing fundraisers for individuals. It is unfortunately the case that some of these sites are popping up but are fraudulent. Please take care to evaluate such individual fundraising sites; contact the person hosting the fundraiser by using email or phone number you know is valid (don't click through the fundraising site to message the host--contact them "offline" or using an email address or text number you know is verified to reach them and check to make sure it's valid. If you encounter a fundraiser that you suspect or know to be fraudulent, go tot the platform website (at GoFundMe.com, for instance: their Trust and Safety section: https://support.gofundme.com/hc/en-us/categories/18626392588571-Trust-and-safety allows you to report fundraisers and possibly request a refund).

Thank you for your compassion and generosity toward your community, and stay safe!