A number of media and entertainment companies are donating money and effort to disaster relief organizations as the wildfires in Southern California continue to rage on.
On Friday, the Walt Disney Company said it was donating $15 million to a number of not-for-profit organizations and disaster relief groups serving the Los Angeles area, including the Los Angeles Fire Department Foundation, the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank and the American Red Cross, among others.
The Disney donation was first reported by KABC-TV (Channel 7), the ABC-owned station serving the Los Angeles area. ABC is owned by Disney, and the company’s corporate headquarters are located in Burbank, a suburb of Los Angeles.
“As this tragedy continues to unfold, the Walt Disney Company is committed to supporting our community and our employees as we all work together to recover and rebuild from this unbelievable devastation,” Bob Iger, the CEO of Disney, said in a statement. “Walt Disney came to Los Angeles with little more than his limitless imagination, and it was here that he chose to make his home, pursue his dreams, and create extraordinary storytelling that means so much to so many people around the world. We are proud to provide assistance to this resilient and vibrant community [at] this moment of need.”
Separately, Fox Corporation said it donated $1 million to the American Red Cross for wildfire and disaster relief efforts in Southern California. The company also encouraged its viewers to donate to the American Red Cross, with Fox News and Fox Weather prominently displaying QR codes on screen and on their websites Friday afternoon.
“Every donation better enables the Red Cross to respond to and help residents recover from this disaster,” a spokesperson for Fox Corporation said in a statement. Fox’s broadcast television network and sports division are headquartered in Los Angeles, and the company owns duopoly KTTV (Channel 11) and KCOP (Channel 13) in the Los Angeles area.
Paramount Global, the corporate owner of CBS, MTV and Nickelodeon, said the company was making a donation of $1 million. Paramount is also driving viewers of its local CBS-owned stations to donate to the American Red Cross, and its duopoly in Los Angeles — KCBS (Channel 2) and KCAL-TV (Channel 9) — have launched donation drives responsible for collecting $300,000 to date.
Sinclair, the operator of Santa Monica-based sports network Tennis Channel, said it is working with the Salvation Army to raise funds for wildfire and disaster relief efforts through its “Sinclair Cares” initiative. A spokesperson for Sinclair told The Desk by e-mail that the company’s local TV stations in California will also drive viewers to donate to the effort via Sinclair Cares. Major TV stations owned by Sinclair in California include KBAK (Channel 29, CBS & Fox) in Bakersfield, KMPH (Channel 26, Fox) in Fresno and KRCR (Channel 7, ABC) in Chico.
Locally, iHeart Media and its news-talk radio station KFI (640 AM) are raising money and accepting donations of goods like canned food, snacks, hygiene products, baby supplies and some clothing items in partnership with the Dream Center of Los Angeles. The drop-off location for goods and supplies is the Dream Center at 2301 Bellevue Ave in Los Angeles. Financial donations can be made online.
For radio and television broadcast professionals, the Broadcasters Foundation of America (BFOA) is extending offers of financial grants to those who have faced wildfire-related financial losses in Southern California.
On Tuesday, a large-scale wildfire called the Palisades Fire ignited in the hills near the Pacific Palisades suburb of Los Angeles. The fire has scored more than 21,000 acres and is 8 percent contained as of Friday evening. More than 1,000 homes were damaged by the blaze, a figure that continues to increase by the day.
Late Tuesday evening, the Eaton Fire sparked in the ridge alongside Altadena, torching 13,000 acres and killing several residents there. A handful of other fires have sparked between Tuesday evening and Friday afternoon, including the Sunset Fire near Hollywood, the Kenneth Fire north of Calabasas and the Hurst Fire south of Santa Clarita.
