Dallas Businesses Send Donations to Los Angeles’ Dream Center for Wildfire Survivors

From Staff Reports

Dallas, you did good. A wildfire relief drive — one of the earliest to get organized — to help survivors of the California blazes in Palisades, Altadena, and Pasadena culminated at the Jesuit Dallas College Preparatory School on Saturday, where dozens of volunteers loaded supplies in an 18-wheeler headed west.

The drive was organized in part by Jesuit graduate Jimmy Watson, a Dallas businessman born and raised in Preston Hollow.

“All in all we felt like it was a very successful result and were pleasantly surprised with how many people showed up to donate and to volunteer,” Watson told CandysDirt.com on Sunday.

Disaster recovery in Los Angeles is far from over. A Los Angeles Times report published Saturday said the community is bracing for heavy rain that could bring floods and landslides. CAL FIRE shows that the early January wildfires burned more than 57,000 acres, destroying 16,240 structures and killing 28 people.

Watson said last week that he has close friends and business colleagues who were directly affected by the wildfires and acknowledged that everyone he’s talked to has a connection and wants to help. He thought, “You know what? I can do this. Let’s do this.”

Local Businesses to the Rescue

Watson, who earned his MBA at Southern Methodist University and is now the managing director for Clavis Capital Partners in Preston Hollow, turned to local businesses like HerStory Gallery, food blogger The Savvy Spoon, and Live, Love, Pop for support. 

Another friend at The Pillow Bar offered to make a large donation. Watson and the team focused their efforts on supplying displaced Californians with the household essentials often taken for granted.

“Most people have found a place [to stay] now,” Watson said. “Let’s help them move in. People are focusing on the chaos, not their self-care. There’s always a need for baby and toddler products. You forget about tools and cleanup and laundry detergent. We’re going to try to get a hardware store to give us some of those college move-in toolkits, anything to help them move in so they can focus on their kids, finding a school, daycare, insurance claims, and the important things. We want to make the adaptation process a little smoother for them.” 

Organizers accepted things like backpacks, bottled water, lunch boxes, games, toys, scissors, batteries, thermometers, pain relievers, hygiene items, portable clocks, sunscreen, candles, soap, tools/tool kits, sewing kits, paper, pens, children’s books, socks, underwear, shampoo, razors, shaving cream, and toilet paper.

Filling Up The Truck

Watson hoped to fill up a 53-foot trailer provided by Stevens Transport Dallas. They didn’t meet that goal but said they were fine with that. The transportation company also provided a driver who headed west as soon as the final donations were accepted on Saturday.

Clothing and other items were taken to the Dream Center in Los Angeles for those affected by the wildfires in Palisades, Altadena, and Pasadena.

For updated information about the California wildfires, visit the CAL FIRE website.

Tell us about other local relief efforts by emailing [email protected].