As thousands of acres continue to burn across Los Angeles County, threatening children’s homes, schools, communities, and health, Save the Children is working to meet the most urgent needs of kids and families living in some of the areas hardest hit by the devastating wildfires.
Save the Children is helping ensure essential, child-focused supplies are getting into the hands of children and families impacted by the wind-fueled fires. This includes supplies like hygiene kits and caregiver kits – with flashlights, water bottles, blankets, portable chargers, and more – as well as children’s activity kits, to enable kids to be kids during stressful times.
The global humanitarian organization is also communicating with local childcare networks to understand the extent of the destruction and help restore childcare and early learning centers damaged by catastrophic wildfires. In addition, Save the Children’s psychosocial team is connecting with community organizations to assess the mental health needs of impacted children and caregivers, to begin planning long-term recovery support.
“Many children left home with only the clothes on their backs, and will need our help for many months to come,” said Lucero Chavez Ramirez, director of Save the Children’s California programs. “We must get children the essentials they need to be safe and healthy – and back to learning and their every day, comforting routines. Save the Children is committed to helping them get that support now and over the long term.”
Save the Children has been helping America’s children recover from major disasters since Hurricane Katrina in 2005. It provided support to California families during the unprecedented 2020 wildfire season and has been working in the state since 2004, leading high-quality early education programs in some of the most impoverished rural communities.
