Swamp Monsters Told you this was happening —FireAid Funds Allocated to Nonprofits, Not LA Fire Victims

Source: RealClearPolitics
Expanded Context: Swamp Monsters News

The "FireAid" fundraising concerts, featuring artists like Green Day, Billie Eilish, Katy Perry, and Stevie Wonder, raised $100 million to assist victims of the Los Angeles wildfires. However, according to Sue Pascoe, editor of Circling The News, none of these funds have directly reached the approximately 12,000 families who lost their homes. Instead, the money has been distributed to 120 nonprofit organizations, many of which have no apparent connection to wildfire relief. For instance, one nonprofit focuses on cleaning preschool bathrooms, while others, such as those intended to support mobile home parks, reported receiving no funds and were unaware of FireAid.

Pascoe, a victim of the Palisades Fire herself, began investigating after a reader inquired about accessing aid. Her attempts to contact the Annenberg Foundation, which manages the funds, were initially met with no response. A media spokesperson, Chris Wallace, later confirmed that the funds are allocated to nonprofits, not directly to victims. There is no transparency regarding how much each nonprofit receives, and some organizations are led by executives with high salaries, raising questions about the effective use of the funds. Pascoe calls for increased public scrutiny to ensure that aid reaches those directly affected by the fires.

This situation reflects broader issues outlined in Swamp Monsters News, which describes how federally funded NGOs and foundations, such as the Open Society Foundations and the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), use public resources to promote policies that can negatively impact cities. Through programs like the Community Development Block Grant, these organizations support initiatives like rent control and police defunding, which have led to housing shortages in New York (with vacancy rates below 4% in 2023) and a 25% increase in homicides in Seattle from 2019 to 2022. The FireAid case illustrates a recurring issue where funds intended for direct relief are diverted to organizations, often failing to address the immediate needs of victims and contributing to broader urban challenges.