NEW YORK — Tri-State Area residents are looking into their wallets and closets to give what they can to those impacted by wildfires in Southern California.
CBS News New York met many over the weekend who are making a difference.
“It’s impossible not to just feel so heartbroken”
Catherine Willhoit co-owns The Hive in Jersey City and Hoboken, one of eight bakeries and cafes in New Jersey and New York donating a portion of their sales Sunday to World Central Kitchen, which is feeding those in need in areas impacted by the California wildfires.
“It’s a sweet way to give back,” Willhoit said. “I don’t know. There’s just something nostalgic about a bake sale.
“It’s impossible not to just feel so heartbroken for what people have gone through. Here’s hoping we raise a whole lot of money to feed people out West,” she added.
In New York City’s West Village, a line of donors wrapped around the block outside of Pickle, which rents and lends out designer women’s clothes.
“We’ve been really thrilled from what we’ve been seeing from the community. It just kind of speaks to how great the community is,” co-owner and CEO Brian McMahon said.
Given the high volume of donations coming in, those accepting them are becoming more selective with what they can take.
“Think about all those amazing, beautiful dresses that you invested in and then they’re gone in your closet and now we have other women that can give back the same to these other people,” Pickle co-owner and COO Julia O’Mara said.
Thousands of meals being sent to impacted areas
For more than a decade, Rich Altemus, originally from Waldwick, New Jersey, has been living in California, where he started a meal-prepping business Sugar Free Rich. He has so far donated over 1,000 meals to fire departments working tirelessly to put out the flames.
“Sometimes people just need love and I’m lucky that I have food and, you know, everybody needs to eat,” Altemus said. “My last week in New Jersey was Hurricane Sandy when I drove … what I experienced then is what I kind of feel now, where a community comes together to support each other.”
Volunteer Aiden Spagnoli of the Lower East Side went to school in Los Angeles, where his sister lives now. CBS News New York saw him on Saturday volunteering at another collection of clothes and supplies being sent to California.
“Restores my faith in humanity, that people want to help people and that people love people. So, I mean, I’m so grateful I get to be a part of it,” Spagnoli said.
It’s a strong show of support that knows no distance.
