As wildfires continue to ravage LA, Paris Hilton has been praised for raising an incredible sum to support displaced families.
It’s been almost 10 days since wildfires started to rip through Los Angeles neighborhoods, claiming the lives of 25 people and incinerating tens of thousands of homes, buildings and land.
On Wednesday, firefighters faced five active wildfires in what was forecast to be one of the worst days, from Auto, Little Mountain, Hurst, and, the worst, Eaton and Palisades, the latter of which has destroyed 23,713 acres and remains just 21 percent contained.
The ‘devil’ Santa Ana winds have since calmed slightly, but the LA Mayor, Karen Bass warned the winds could pick up again next week, reports CNN.
She said in a press conference: “We are not out of the woods yet.”
Dozens of celebrities have since been using their wealth and platform to try and do their bit to support firefighters on the ground and the tens of thousands of displaced families and their pets, from Beyoncé, who donated a whopping $2.5 million to a relief fund, to Snoop Dogg, who turned his clothing store in Inglewood into a clothing donation point to those affected.
Paris Hilton, who lost her own Malibu home to the Palisades fire, announced in a post on Instagram last week that she also donated $100,000 to the cause and vowed to match other contributions up to $100,000 more.
The mom-of-two, who was crowned New York’s leading ‘It Girl’ in the 2000s, explained her thoughts were with the ‘countless families’ who lost ‘their homes, cherished keepsakes, the communities they loved, and their sense of stability’.
She said: “As a mom, I can’t imagine the pain and fear of not having a safe place for your babies so I’m launching an emergency fund through my nonprofit 11:11 Media Impact to support displaced families with young children.”
Since then, she’s donated $150,000 in total and said all donations will go towards providing financial support for families and animal shelters as well as on ‘short-term housing and hotel stays’ for people with children.
Some of the funds raised will also deliver essentials and supplies to evacuation centers, which Hilton even delivered herself.
Now, the 43-year-old has revealed the fund raised an incredible $800,000 in just 72 hours, and then broke the $1 million barrier a less than one week since the funds were launched.
Hilton said in a post on Twitter: “Never doubt the power of community! I am so proud that in just a few days 11:11 Media Impact reached our goal of raising $1 million dollars!”
She also urged to her 26.8 million Instagram followers to help reach the next milestone.
She wrote: “The more we raise, the more we can do. Next goal? $1.5 million.”
The celeb has also been pitching in by volunteering at various shelters, including Baby2Baby, which helps families provide clothing and other essentials for children, and Pasadena Humane Society where she has been helping to reunite pets with their owners – and has fostered a dog, Zuzu.
Fans and followers of Hilton have been flooding social media to praise her efforts amid the devastation.
“Don’t see anyone else with this level of influence doing this much boots on the ground work to help the animals of LA”, one fan applauded.
“You are a true inspiration,” penned another, while others described her as an ‘angel’.
