How to Volunteer for LA Wildfire Relief Efforts

If you’re thinking about volunteering for LA wildfire relief, we have put together this resource guide to help you understand your options. Dozens of agencies are relying on volunteers to help with immediate relief efforts and the expected years’ long journey to recover. 

The LA wildfires in January 2025 were one of the most destructive natural disasters in California’s history. The fires destroyed over 16,000 structures and left hundreds of thousands of people displaced. 

Volunteer work is relying on a wide range of special and general skills, across a number of sectors. This means that almost anyone can find a role to support the relief effort. 

If you’re looking to match your particular skills and capacity (i.e. volunteering virtually or in person, and at certain times), a volunteer platform like Golden can help.  But first, it is a good idea to familiarize yourself with the types of help needed with wildfire disaster relief more in general. 

How to Help After a Fire - Immediate Response Efforts

The immediate response efforts are those that help people who have been displaced meet their basic needs. There are also outreach and support opportunities for the agencies that are supporting relief, including firefighters, the police, and evacuation shelters. 

Food Distribution

One of the most imminent needs in any emergency is the hunger relief effort. Nearly all food relief charities already rely on volunteers to organize donations, cook food for those housed in shelters, and distribute food to those in need. When a disaster strikes, these organizations  typically ramp up efforts and need new volunteers to help.

You can usually find these opportunities in public forums and on volunteer management platforms. Feeding America uses Golden as their volunteer management solution and posts their open opportunities on a regular basis.  By frequently visiting food bank-related volunteer sign-up portals, you can easily find opportunities that fit your criteria. Additionally, these opportunities will detail requirements needed in order to volunteer such as a clean background check, motor vehicle check, and more.

Evacuation Shelters

Local schools and churches often serve as emergency shelters during fires. They rely on volunteers to help collect clothing and emergency supplies, and support organizing space and resources in the shelter space. 

Volunteers can also help as support liaisons for survivors, helping them cope with their trauma and address immediate needs. They might be separated from loved ones, for instance, need help finding their pets, or in need of medicines for health conditions. Even a simple act of being present and allowing survivors to use your laptop can be uplifting in trying times. Seniors and other vulnerable community members might appreciate your help in navigating FEMA claims or communications to their insurers.

Firefighter Support

Firefighters and emergency responders need help to get their jobs done. Volunteers can take on unskilled roles, such as providing food and refreshment, assisting with administrative tasks, and communicating to the public to free up professional (or trained volunteer) time. 

How to Help with Long-Term Recovery after a Fire

 In the case of the LA wildfires, firefighters had fully contained the fires in four weeks, yet tens of thousands of people are still displaced, and hundreds of thousands more are feeling the impacts. UCLA’s Anderson Forecast estimates a loss of wages at near $300 billion in 2025. The time it takes to fully recover from a fire can easily take years to overcome. 

Community Aid

The loss of wages and economic recession in the region will lead to higher hunger rates for children, and more requests for support from aid agencies. Volunteers can help by organizing a food drive, organizing a clothing drive, fundraising, or supporting events for community agencies. 

United Way of Greater Los Angeles has a Wildfire Response plan in place, for instance, with links to different ways to help support the community. These agencies also post their volunteer events and needs on Golden’s platform and actively recruit volunteers who have indicated an interest in supporting aid work. 

Helping with Clean-Up and Recovery

The Mayor’s office and neighborhood associations are good places to seek opportunities to help clean up community resources, such as parks and schools. To replant trees and recover landscaping, the soil will need to be regenerated in many cases. Likely local conservation and environmental NGOs are seeking volunteer support for these types of efforts as well. 

Churches and aid agencies often lead the effort to support individual homeowners in cleaning up and recovering their land.  Usually this work simply requires hands-on-the-ground, to do the grunt work of removing rubble, and also to cook and serve meals for workers. 

Hotlines and Trauma Support

Agencies likely can use volunteer support, either in person or online, to triage calls from survivors. They might simply need help navigating resources. Some might be dealing with trauma from the events and need online counseling and support to get them through a difficult moment. 

Fundraising

Every agency involved in the relief efforts is going to need help raising more cash for their work over the next year of recovery. Helping with these efforts can be the best way to volunteer. From running a marathon, to donating to an auction, there are likely opportunities that fit your interests and your capacity. 

How to Get Started on Volunteering for LA Wildfire Relief

The best way to get started on volunteering is to go to a holistic space where you can search for volunteer opportunities, and also be found by those agencies seeking volunteers. Golden volunteer software is the go-to resource for dozens of these agencies and charities. What is more, you create a profile on Golden’s mobile app that notifies you of those opportunities, so you receive invitations for opportunities that align with your skills and interests. 

Skills and Experience

When you’re creating your profile, think about what skills or experience may be needed for the types of relief efforts involved in fire relief. Those include:

• Communication skills (to work with volunteers in need in person or virtually). 
• Counseling skills. 
• Carpentry/plumbing/building skills. 
• Organizational skills. 
• Computer skills. 
• Caring/medical skills. 
• Capacity to work with children. 
• Helping seniors. 
• Fundraising. 
• Event organizing. 
• Leadership. 

You might consider aspirational skills. I.e., you work by yourself in your professional life, but want to be part of a team. Look for roles that require team building (construction, community clean ups, event organization, etc.). Volunteering is actually a great way to build up your skill base and resume! 

Time and Effort

Also, consider your time and the effort you can put into volunteering. 

• Are you looking to help in-person on weekends or evenings? If so, you can use Golden to establish your available hours on a personal calendar and search for event sign ups at your specified times.  
• Do you want to help virtually from your house? That’s great, and likely needed by a number of roles. Specify that capacity on your profile to be clear with organizations. 
• Can you take time for lengthy onboarding and screening if needed? Some roles, like working with the vulnerable or children, might require background checks and/or courses in training. (Golden can help you with integrated background checks, and also supports online flexible training to fulfill those requirements.)

Volunteering for LA Wildfire Relief Made Simple with Tech Tools

In the past, when people wanted to volunteer after a disaster, they had to sort through ads in the newspaper, posts on TV and social media, and network through friends and family. Now, with tools like Golden, we can generate a great list of opportunities to get involved with in a few clicks. 

Furthermore, those opportunities will be tailored to your particular skills and interests and also your availability. And, by creating a profile, you can advertise yourself to opportunities as they may arise, helping the agencies in need find you and request your support. 

With the ease of these tools, volunteering for LA wildfire relief is a possibility for almost anyone!