The devastating Eaton Fire left parts of Pasadena and Altadena completely transformed and almost unrecognizable. Whether they were evacuating their homes, calling friends and family, or watching the fire escalate on the news, many students felt called to aid their community in whatever ways they could.

Audrey B. ’25 remembered looking on social media with her brother, in hopes of finding a place to volunteer. “I had contributed [to] a lot of donations, so I wanted to be a part of a bigger thing than just dropping off lightly used clothes, and also, I had a lot of free time. I probably would’ve just watched TV, so instead I wanted to put my time into something productive and something that would help others,” Audrey said. She and her brother stumbled upon a yoga studio in Koreatown, The WalkGood Yard, an organization dedicated to making wellness accessible to all. There, they discovered a donation event in progress. Audrey immediately got to work, assembling care packages for those who had lost their belongings in both the Palisades Fire and the Eaton Fire. 

Although Sydney S. ’25 and her family were evacuated, she volunteered at both Pasadena City College (PCC) and Altadena Girls where she was able to sort donated items such as food, clothing, and household items like pillows or blankets. At PCC, there was no designated place to sign up to volunteer and no direction for volunteers as to where help was needed. When Sydney arrived, she jumped in and looked for an area that seemed to need some organization. “I just saw that people were needing trash bags, so I started emptying trash bags that were full of donations and I felt like that was where I was most helpful.” 

Sydney and many others came from all over LA county with donations. In fact, word of the event was mainly spread through social media, and Sydney originally heard about this event from friends. After two days of volunteering, Sydney had helped sort through and organize the majority of donations. 

“[At PCC], I immediately ran into one of my family friends who had lost her home, and seeing her and knowing that she and her family were helping people even when they didn’t have a lot of things figured out, it really inspired me to do the same,” Sydney said. 

Just like Sydney, Lucia F.-R. ’26 also had to evacuate her home, an experience that led her to spreading awareness about ways to volunteer and donate money and items to those in need. Like so many others, Lucia took to her social media platforms and posted multiple places to volunteer and donate. She also shared the stories of individual families in need. Lucia tried to provide resources to both those who needed help as well as those who wanted to help.

“I wanted to help my town rebuild and recover after this terrible loss, and seeing my community and my loved ones lose everything or even be financially and emotionally affected by the damage, myself included, motivated me to do the most I can to create change,” Lucia said. 

Most recently, Lucia has decided to start a clothing drive, specifically for prom dresses. As part of Westridge’s prom committee, she realized that some girls might not be able to afford prom dresses this year.

Rysie Y. ’25 decided to donate items that were close to her heart: softball equipment. “Softball means a lot to me, and if I lost all of my softball stuff, that, I know, is really expensive, I would be so sad, so it was great to see so many girls get new bats and gloves,” Rysie said. 

Rysie donated things like shirts, pants, socks, and softballs to the Pasadena Girls Softball Association (PGSA). PGSA is using their softball fields to store donations and allot time for players to come and pick up equipment. Rysie decided to donate to PGSA because of the connection her family had made with many of the coaches and girls in the league. “We had heard that a lot of the girls who are a part of [PGSA], like my sister’s teammates and players my dad has coached, lost their homes to the fire so I donated a bunch of softball pants and shirts,” Rysie said. 

Essential items like clothing, food, water and hygiene kits are always the first and most important items donated, but for those who have been displaced or lost their homes, it is the sense of home, the things that make a home, which are missed most. Things such as photos and yearbooks was what was on Miyari V.-W. ’27’s mind when she was thinking about what people might be mourning. 

Miyari previously attended Odyssey Charter School, a school located in upper Altadena where many of the school’s families lost their homes. When one of Miyari’s friends had asked about the Odyssey yearbooks, an idea formed in Miyari’s head. She admitted her family is full of “sentimentalists” and had kept every year book from the years she and her sister had attended Odyssey. “I was in shock watching a space I had spent so many years of my life in go up in flames, and along with that, an itching need to help the friends I had known, I decided to make digital versions of our yearbooks,” Miyari said.

The easy task of scanning yearbooks and reaching out to old friends to see if they would like a digital yearbook is how Miyari provided comfort: by helping to reconstruct some of the memories of life before the fire.

“I love my community. I have grown up [in Altadena], and I want to help regrow what people have lost, especially since I still have the privilege of having my memories and things. I wanted to give back to those who don’t,” Miyari said.