By Last July, some in California started to point out that despite raising tens of millions of dollars to help them, the victims were not receiving the money to rebuild their lives.
Now we know where the money went. According to a report by The Washington Free Beacon, the millions raised to help victims of California’s devastating 2025 wildfires have been funneled into nonprofits advancing progressive agendas, including groups that exclude white applicants and prioritize aid for illegal immigrants.
FireAid, a celebrity-backed fundraiser supported by Billie Eilish, Lady Gaga, Dr. Dre, Stevie Wonder, and Sting, collected roughly $100 million during a high-profile event on January 30, produced by the Annenberg Foundation. The group pledged to distribute donations “equitably.” But the actual flow of money has drawn scrutiny from watchdogs and donors questioning whether the funds are truly reaching fire victims.
One recipient, the Greenline Housing Foundation, received part of a $4.8 million pool earmarked for housing and health, writes The Free Beacon. Its website explicitly states: “In order to qualify for a grant through Greenline Housing Foundation, applicants must be a Black or Hispanic person.” The group told the Free Beacon that “anyone is welcome to apply for and receive” fire-specific programs, but its website makes clear that it “will focus [its] efforts on helping Black and Hispanic communities.”
The Black Freedom Fund, supported by a $7.6 million disaster relief pool, describes its mission as building “Black power” and confronting “systemic racism.” A 2023 proposal from the group specifies that it only assists organizations “led and controlled by Black people” and “primarily serving Black people.”
Another grantee, My Tribe Rise, seeks to “take the stigma out of gangs” and serve “Black and Brown communities.” The Alliance for a Better Community, which tapped into both the disaster pool and a separate $5.9 million fund, distributes money through its Fuerza Fund. FireAid describes that program as providing “immediate, direct cash assistance to essential workers and households impacted by the Los Angeles wildfires.” Yet the Alliance’s website emphasizes prioritizing “immigrant and undocumented families,” offering not just cash but “trauma-informed healing” and legal services aimed at “confronting the fear caused by raids and displacement.”
Not all grants went to disaster relief. FireAid directed $3.3 million toward the Music Health Alliance’s Music Industry Mental Health Fund. But its wildfire relief page has since been deleted, and an archived version showed the group listing other nonprofits rather than providing direct services.
Other recipients include Home Grown and the Instituto de Educación Popular del Sur de California, both of which support undocumented individuals, and the California Native Vote Project, which promotes the slogan “NO ONE IS ILLEGAL ON STOLEN LAND.” The group has participated in anti-ICE demonstrations and “No Kings Day” protests earlier this summer. Their website says very little about housing, and instead claims that they exist to “build political power through an integrated voter engagement strategy.”
How much each group received remains unclear. FireAid’s website does not disclose specific grant amounts, though a spokesman told the Free Beacon that details will appear in an upcoming audit by Latham & Watkins. In response to criticism, the group dismissed “misinformation,” insisting: “The money raised through FireAid is delivering much needed assistance to as many people as possible, to foster healing and help LA recover stronger than before.”
As Los Angeles rebuilds from one of its worst fire seasons in decades, the controversy over FireAid should remind the rest of us that liberals never let a crisis go to waste.
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