Chris Sweeney wasn’t sure what to expect when he put out a social media call Wednesday for donations to benefit victims of the Los Angeles County wildfires. “I can’t just watch the news without taking action,” he wrote.
Within eight hours, Sweeney had a 26-foot box truck and a U-Haul sitting outside his Downtown Long Beach health food store, RightMealz — both full of donated supplies.
“I just had this idea and I jumped on it as soon as I could,” he said. “I didn’t even think about the logistics of it.”
Starting at 6 a.m. Thursday, cars full of goods for victims of the Los Angeles County wildfires began showing up outside his eatery on Fourth Street.
The steady stream of donations didn’t stop until he had to cut it short around 3 p.m. Thursday to begin dropping off the goods at the Dream Center, one of four evacuation sites for victims of the Palisades and Eaton fires.
He said he expected to take three trips with the U-Haul and the box truck to drop off all of the donated goods, which ranged from non-perishable food items to clothing and pet food.
Alamitos Beach resident Tom Vinson saw Sweeney’s call for donations on Instagram. He decided to show up with the box truck he had sitting around from a moving company he’s been trying to launch.
Emily Leyba and Rachel Burgess made two donation runs to drop off over $1,200 of goods they had collected from friends and family.
Burgess, a teacher at a school in Compton, said the school she teaches at was closed Thursday because of the wildfires and she wanted to use the time productively.
Her godmother is a psychiatrist and was helping evacuees at the Pasadena Convention Center.
Tracy Hueth stopped by RightMealz to donate non-perishable items, socks, underwear and chocolates. A coworker’s house was leveled by one of the blazes, but they were able to save their pets, Hueth said.
Joseph Sacro, who lives by Bixby Park, made a run to Ralph’s before donating non-perishable items to RightMealz. Sacro also stuck around to help several others unload cars full of goods.
“It’s obviously a big tragedy, but it’s really cool to see people helping out,” Sacro said.
Donations will also be accepted at Watch Me! Sports Bar (6527 E. Pacific Coast Highway) through Sunday during their normal business hours.
They have requested snacks, socks, underwear, blankets, dog food, non-perishable goods, hygiene items, first aid kits and infant care supplies.
Sweeney, a former walk-on track and field athlete at Cal State Long Beach, said he knows first responders who were still on the front lines fighting the wildfires Thursday, along with friends who had to evacuate.
“This isn’t even a fraction of enough [but] it’s pretty incredible,” he said.
For a complete list of how to help those impacted by the fires, click here.