The Hollywood Foreign Press Assn. is contributing to relief efforts following last week's Thousand Oaks shooting and while the deadly wildfires scorching swaths of California still burn.
The HFPA, which hosts the annual Golden Globe Awards, will donate $300,000 to organizations helping those affected by the tragedies, organizers announced Thursday.
"From a devastating massacre in Thousand Oaks a week ago, to blazing wildfires that are still tearing through our state, it is times like this when the community needs to come together and support one another," association president Meher Tatna said in a statement to The Times.
"This is why the HFPA is making donations to help the victims and their loved ones who have been impacted, and to support the selfless work of our first responders," Tatna added.
The HFPA is allotting $100,000 to the Ventura County Community Foundation, which itself has two funds to help Hill and Woolsey fire victims and the families of victims of the Thousand Oaks mass shooting.
Another $100,000 will go to California Fire Foundation's Supplying Aid to Victims of Emergency (SAVE) program to enable firefighters to distribute prepaid debit cards to those who are affected, helping them get through the first few hours after losing their homes and possessions.
The HFPA will also give $50,000 apiece to the California Fire Foundation and the California Community Foundation's Wildfire Relief Fund.
The Woolsey fire burning in Los Angeles and Ventura counties so far has left three dead, destroyed 504 structures and threatened 57,000 other buildings. The Camp fire burning in Northern California has killed 56 people with hundreds still missing, destroyed 8,650 homes and 260 commercial structures, and threatened 15,500. The latter has become the deadliest and most destructive fire in state history.
Out of respect for victims of the Woolsey fire and mass shooting, several Hollywood events have been subdued or canceled this week and donations have been made to relief organizations instead.
