How B Corps Can Help LA Wildfire Relief Efforts: Take Action in Community

January 27, 2025

The devastating wildfires in Southern California underscore the urgency of the climate crisis and the need for climate action. B Corps, including those directly impacted, are stepping up to provide immediate relief and long-term support while emphasizing the need for climate justice and resilience in business practices. Through collective action and resources shared by networks like B Local LA, the B Corp community is demonstrating the power of businesses to lead in times of crisis and help shape a more equitable and sustainable future.

The deadly and destructive wildfires in drought-stricken Southern California demonstrate the climate crisis is here now and escalating. As the fires destroy homes, businesses, and entire neighborhoods, they are upending daily life for thousands of people — causing an estimated $275 billion in damages so far. 

The Certified B Corporation community includes members whose neighborhoods were affected by the fire and companies and individuals stepping up to assist. B Local Los Angeles, the regional B Corp network, shared an online resource with information for people offering and seeking assistance during a Jan. 21 town hall. 

McKenzie Satterthwaite, board chair of B Local LA, head of Social Impact at  B Corp Premium Blend, and founder of Moms, said the B Corp community can serve as a collective source of strength and resiliency in times of crisis. “Each and every one of us has a role here. The Impact is amazing when we collectively come together.”

Jorge Fontanez, CEO of B Lab U.S. & Canada, noted that the fires are just the latest climate-related disaster to affect communities and businesses. Severe weather events — from damaging hurricanes in North Carolina and Florida to destructive fires in Colorado and Hawaii — are reinforcing the need for climate action rooted in justice. B Corps and partners can continue to lead by creating and sharing resources and practices to help more businesses center justice and equity in climate action. 

Climate disasters like wildfires and hurricanes are a pressing challenge for businesses seeking resilient ways of working to ensure a viable long-term economy. “For the business community, the stakes are very high,” Fontanez said. “Fires and drought create disruption at all levels in our supply chains. It increases operational costs … and it impacts the health, safety, and well-being of our employees, our workers, and our customers.”

By embedding climate action and climate justice in their business practices and stepping up to help in times of crisis, B Corps can help shape a more resilient and equitable future. “The needs are vast,” Fontanez said. “But we also know that the business community, and the companies that we’re part of, are ready and willing to support in the ways that we can, both in the immediate term and in the long term.”

Find information on how to help in this resource from B Local LA.  

The Business Guide to Advancing Climate Justice

Learn more about what you can do as a business to advance climate action centered in justice from this guide published in partnership with Forum for the Future.

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How to Help and Get Help: Wildfire Relief Efforts  

How to Help Where You Live: Climate Action and Climate Justice Resources

On-the-Ground Wildfire Experiences Reinforce Importance of Community

During the town hall, two B Corp employees whose neighborhoods were damaged by the wildfires shared how their on-the-ground experiences have reinforced the importance of community and the need for climate action.       

Laura Hertz, Co-Founder and CEO of B Corp Gifts for Good, is among those whose communities were damaged in the fires. She shared her story during the town hall and in a post on the Gifts for Good site. Hertz said she’s mourning more than the loss of her previous home — an apartment community in a tight-knit Pacific Palisades neighborhood with working-class, longtime residents — and damage in her current Altadena neighborhood, where she lives with her newborn son and husband, who is a first responder. 

This is a broader mourning that goes deeper than anything Hertz has experienced. “It feels very different when it’s losing your whole community and everything you love about your daily life,” she said.

While the largest immediate needs for affected residents are food and shelter, Hertz said, many displaced families and residents are still in shock and may be reluctant to seek assistance. She urged people interested in helping to realize the need will exist for a long time. “Don’t forget about this six months from now, a year from now,” Hertz said. “Think about what you’re going to give 12 or 16 months from now as well.” 

Hunt Turner of B Corp Burnham Benefits saw the spirit of community in action as the fires threatened his Altadena neighborhood. As flames neared the homes, Turner helped organize neighbors in a bucket brigade — hauling water from pools to douse flames where they could. Eventually, the group grew to include friends and strangers who arrived and jumped in to help. 

“They were just selfless, wonderful people who came to help the community,” he said. “We were there until late at night.” 

Turner believes their efforts helped avoid the loss of homes downwind, and has been heartened by the assistance flowing into donation centers and other relief efforts. Members of his family looking for a way to help have created a Dena Strong fundraiser, with proceeds donated to relief efforts. Like Hertz, he emphasized that the recovery effort and need for help will stretch into the coming years. “We need everyone’s patience and support for months to come. Needs will be long-term.”

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