As the economic toll of the wildfires ripping through Los Angeles County continues to rise, performers’ union SAG-AFTRA has pledged $1 million to help union members impacted by the disaster.
The union is donating the funds to the SAG-AFTRA Foundation, a nonprofit that offers emergency financial aid and education services to union members. Said union president Fran Drescher in a statement, “The destruction caused by these blazes, the loss of life and homes, has been gut-wrenching to experience, and of course our hearts go out to all affected. But we knew we could do more; we hope this pledge helps relieve suffering and assists those impacted in putting their lives back together after this calamity.”
Since Tuesday, a series of wildfires spurred on by ferocious winds in the L.A. area have burned through tens of thousands of acres and severely damaged the Pacific Palisades neighborhood and the unincorporated area of Altadena. At least 10,000 structures have been burned, with thousands of residents displaced as a result. That group has included some of SAG-AFTRA’s best-known members, including Mandy Moore, Paris Hilton, Jeff Bridges and Milo Ventimiglia, among others.
“The very essence of a labor union is solidarity: that we all work to elevate each other during times of stability, and we’re there for each other in times of crisis,” said the union’s national executive director Duncan Crabtree-Ireland in a statement. “The devastation is hard to fathom, even for those of us living in it. We’re so fortunate to have the SAG-AFTRA Foundation as a resource and a place our members can turn to in times of need.”
Crabtree-Ireland urged members who have not been spared from major hardship by the wildfires to volunteer, donate or otherwise help peers who have been significantly impacted.
The 160,000-member SAG-AFTRA, which represents not only actors but also broadcast journalists, dancers, voice performers, puppeteers and news writers, has closed its Wilshire Blvd. offices as a safety precaution due to the wildfires.
SAG-AFTRA is the latest organization to pledge aid as the significant consequences of the wildfires have gotten clearer. On Friday, Disney announced that it was donating $15 million to organizations providing relief such as the American Red Cross and the Los Angeles Fire Department Foundation. The CAA Foundation has partnered with Sean Penn’s CORE and the Los Angeles Unified School District Education Foundation to launch a fund to offer aid and L.A. dining institutions like Din Tai Fung, Jitlada and Spago have also pledged relief to those who have been impacted.
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