REGION — Following a harrowing week of deadly wildfires in Los Angeles, multiple North County San Diego organizations announced this week that the outpouring of donations for victims had nearly filled their headquarters.
MainStreet Oceanside opened its meeting room to help King & Donna, a nonprofit serving displaced individuals in Oceanside and Los Angeles, receive, sort and distribute much-needed supplies and clothing to fire evacuees.
The organizations have reportedly collected well over 100,000 items, including clothes, food, hygiene kits, baby supplies and toys, to distribute locally to evacuees who have relocated to San Diego County.
This week, the groups expect more than 100 locals to pick up supplies, and the rest of the items will be loaded into a U-Haul truck and taken to distribution centers in Los Angeles in partnership with the YMCA. Local businesses, including Senor Grubby’s Ransack, Cosmic Bloom Coffee and Black Plague Brewing, have served as drop-off locations for donations.
King & Donna was founded by Jeanette Linnborn, the daughter of MainStreet Oceanside’s new CEO, Angie Leonard.
The Institute of Contemporary Art San Diego’s north location in Encinitas has also served as a donation point for support and relief headed to those impacted by wildfires. More than 300 volunteers helped unpack and sort items from 1,537 vehicles over the weekend, filling four moving trucks worth of supplies for L.A.
Those supplies have been delivered to Snail Farm LA, The Sidewalk Project, 9thirtyLA and United Native American Movement, among others.
Tuesday through Friday, ICA North also offers its community garden as a workspace or a place to find respite for those displaced by the fires. The garden has Wi-Fi, power strips, tea and coffee and is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
ICA North is located at 1578 S El Camino Real.
The Encinitas Rotary Club has also stepped up to help, raising $2,100 during a “pass the hat” initiative to support local relief efforts and donating necessary items to evacuation shelters.
Slightly farther south, the Helen Woodward Animal Center had to pause its donation drive because of the massive response from San Diegans.
The Rancho Santa Fe-based animal shelter has filled multiple box trucks, its Rescue RV and storage space in the facility with donated supplies for Los Angeles. The RV will make trips north to bring the supplies to groups on the ground in the Southland before resuming donations.
“Blue Buffalo, Barons Market and Midwest Vet immediately provided needed pet food, crates, snacks and bottled water and the San Diego community came out in full force over the weekend, providing an endless stream of crucial items from paper towels to pet food, to bedding, to clothing, to kitty litter,” a statement from the center read.
Even with its building jam-packed with necessities, the center also announced Tuesday it was donating $50,000 to SPCA Los Angeles — the organization heading L.A.’s animal search and rescue, veterinary care for lost animals in the area and the sheltering of pets — and was asking for the community to match it.
The Helen Woodward Animal Center’s Club Pet facility offers free kennel space to pets who lost their homes in the fires. Club Pet can be contacted at 858-756-4117, ext. 2, for more information.
Feeding San Diego is holding a food drive this week in tandem with the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank to help those displaced. Water bottles, hydrating beverages, snacks, and ready-to-eat meals are of special need. Donation items can be dropped off at Feeding San Diego in Sorrento Valley,9477 Waples St., suite 100, Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.
City News Service contributed to this report.