Jamie Lee Curtis donates $1M to LA wildfire relief efforts: We are 'banding together to save each other'
Jamie Lee Curtis says her family is donating $1 million to relief efforts amid the wildfires in California that have devastated the Los Angeles area.
"As the fire still rages on and [the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection and Los Angeles Fire Department] and all the available first responders and agencies involved in fighting fire and saving lives are still hard at work and neighbors and friends are banding together to save each other, my husband and I and our children have pledged $1 million from our Family Foundation to start a fund of support for our great city and state and the great people who live and love there," the "Freaky Friday" actor wrote in a Thursday post on Instagram.
The 66-year-old Academy Award winner, who was born in California and is an American Red Cross ambassador, said she was "in communication" with a group of public officials, including California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D), Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass (D) and Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) regarding "where those funds need to be directed for the most impact."
"It's just a catastrophe," Curtis told Jimmy Fallon of the fires in a Wednesday appearance on NBC's "The Tonight Show."
"This is literally where I live — everything. The market I shop in, the schools my kids go to. Friends — many, many, many friends now — have lost their homes," she said, her voice cracking.
Curtis has shared several messages on social media about the fires, which have killed at least five people and destroyed more than 1,000 structures.
"Our beloved neighborhood is gone. Our home is safe. So many others have lost everything. Help where you can. Thank you to the first responders and firefighters," she wrote in a Wednesday post, with video of buildings burning along a street.
"It is a terrifying situation and I'm grateful to the firefighters and all of the good Samaritans who are helping people get out of the way of the blaze," Curtis said in another post.
"Neighbors have taken care of neighbors. We ALL take everything for granted because we are all living our lives but when it hits your community, it's particularly shocking," she wrote.