WATERFORD TOWNSHIP, Mich. (WXYZ) — A local nonprofit is collecting donations and sending relief to victims of the wildfires in Los Angeles.
Disaster Relief At Work in Waterford has responded to dozens of hurricanes, floods and tornadoes over the years but not many wildfires. However, given the magnitude of the disaster in California, they’ve been called to help. They'll be sending a truck full of supplies to Los Angeles Wednesday morning.
"We got a call from our partners in California that said they need reinforcements of supplies," said Greg Martin, executive director of DRAW. "Specifically, the buckets that we give away after disasters.”
Inside every bucket are much needed supplies, packed and ready to be on its way to Los Angeles in the morning. Since 2012, the local nonprofit has sent thousands of buckets filled with supplies to help with disasters across the country.
Last year, we were there as dozens of volunteers packed buckets for victims of Hurricane Helene.
Watch our October 2024 report when DRAW helped victims of Hurricane Helene and Milton in the video below:
“Typically, DRAW responds to hurricanes, floods and tornadoes," Martin said. "But we’re always here to help people after disasters. This just happens to be a different kind.”
Martin says these wildfires are unprecedented for the organization. For this disaster, they’ll also be sending out tarps along with buckets of outdoor cleanup supplies. Those buckets include items like work gloves and masks to deal with the poor air quality.
“A lot of these homes are complete loses, but people still need to clean up their properties," Martin said. "People still need to salvage stuff that maybe didn't get burned in the fire, stuff that might be valuable to them.”
Watch our September 2022 report when DRAW volunteers sent relief after Hurricane Ian in the video below:
This first truck leaving Wednesday will arrive in Los Angeles on Friday to be distributed at a local resource center. However, DRAW is also on standby to send more trucks if needed and is taking donations to be ready to respond if so.
“It's easy to bury our head in the sand because we all have our everyday stuff,” Martin said. “This is our act of love, to be able to love the people on the West Coast of the country to take a step back to normalcy.”
Some of the items that DRAW collects include bars of soap, toothpaste, toothbrushes, shampoo, deodorant, combs, hairbrushes, towels and washcloths.
You can purchase items and learn more about donating by visiting drawbuckets.org.
