Santa Monica College is hosting a free distribution event providing essential items like food, clothing, and hygiene products to those affected by recent wildfires. The event, open to all community members, offers resources like mental health services and hot meals, aiming to support those struggling due to the fires.
Santa Monica College is hosting a distribution event this week to provide free essentials, including food, clothing, and hygiene products, to those who’ve been impacted by local fires. Though the event is geared at college students and staff, no one gets turned away. In addition to free food and other essential items, visitors can sign up for mental health services, provided by the L.A. County Department of Public Health.
For just over a week, the Santa Monica College Foundation worked to gather essential items for community members who’ve been impacted by the recent wildfires. Now all those items have to find the people who need them. The college’s gym now resembles a department store of free goods, with dozens of tables teeming with neatly folded clothes for babies, children, and adults. As shoppers enter, they’re handed a large, blue shopping bag. Once inside, they’re greeted by upbeat music and a sea of mylar balloons. Shoppers — again, it’s free — will find other essentials, including blankets, backpacks, canes, and pillows, carefully displayed throughout. As people peruse the items, volunteers circle the building, refolding garments and rearranging anything that looks askew. The upkeep is deliberate, said Kathryn Jeffery, the college’s president and superintendent. She and her colleagues sought to create a distribution site that treats wildfire victims and other community members with dignity. “Anyone who comes through this space, they’re not going to feel like they're just going to some place where clothes were dumped,” she said. The distribution site will be held at Corsair Gym in Santa Monica College’s main campus. Free parking is available in Lot 3. Sunday, Jan. 26, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. At Santa Monica College, Jeffery’s students and colleagues have either lost their homes or been displaced due to fire damage. Some of those wildfire victims, she added, have come out to volunteer. Earlier that day, Jeffery discovered a faculty member who’d been volunteering for days is among those whose homes have been destroyed. She told Jeffery it “helps her take her mind off things,” that it’s “a way to make some good come out of all this.” Organizers said the event is geared toward local students, faculty, and staff — but everyone is welcome, including unhoused Angelenos. No one gets turned away. One man traveled all the way from Pasadena because he’d lost his home in the Eaton Fire. Philip Hephzibah and Rafael Hernandez, who are on the school soccer team, were initially hesitant to go to the distribution site. They did not lose their homes. They also weren’t forced to evacuate.“Same,” said Hernandez, who left the gym with a jacket for himself and another for his sister. Their coach encouraged them to go, they said — students like them were affected in other ways, including having their in-person classes move online. Lizzy Moore, president of the Santa Monica College Foundation, stressed that volunteers are still needed to help the distribution site be a success. If you’re interested in participating, she added, you can sign up onOutside the gym, the World Central Kitchen distributed free hot meals. Providence St. John’s Health Center set up a mobile van where community members can get free N95 masks and immunization records. Shoppers will also find other resources. At the L.A. County Department of Public Health’s booth, people can sign up for mental health services, regardless of whether they have insurance, said Brian Navarro, a licensed clinician and psychiatric social worker. Navarro was there to provide information for children and adults in West L.A., including those with intellectual disabilities and developmental delays. His table had stress balls, tiny coloring books, and tips on how to decompress.— sometimes talking helps us feel better — you can contact us,” he said. “We can really rely on each other to get through this hard time.
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