Champions of Hope: The 2025 California Wildfires, Hurricane Helene, and Hurricane Milton.
Nonprofits Insurance Alliance members provided critical services to help their communities during recent natural disasters.
This page puts a spotlight on some of these organizations.
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Sortable Table
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| Nonprofit | State | County | Mission / What they Do | Crisis | How they Helped |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Life Builders Incorporated | CA | San Bernardino | Provides programs that include mentoring, education, employment training, and counseling for youth and adults from all socioeconomic backgrounds. | California Fires 2025 | After the fires in Altadena and Pasadena, worked to provide free mental health services, raise contributions, distribute gift cards and donated items, and assist families at a food/clothing center. |
| Haywood County Arts Council | NC | Haywood | Promotes artists, art education, and innovation in art as a vehicle to spark conversations and spur social change. | Hurricane Helene 2024 | Distributed over $13,000 in relief funds to 20 people affected by Hurricane Helene, offering vital assistance to help them recover and rebuild. |
| Community Center of La Cañada Flintridge | CA | Los Angeles | Enhances the well-being of the City of La Cañada Flintridge and surrounding foothill communities by bringing people of all ages together for enrichment, recreation, and social programs. | California Fires 2025 | Established donation/distribution center in the organization's auditorium and courtyard. Over 200 volunteers helped sort and distribute clothing, toys, toiletries, pet food and more to our neighbors affected by the fires. |
| Marin Humane | CA | Marin | Provides exceptional animal care, humane education, and advocacy. Inspires compassion and positive relationships between people and animals. | California Fires 2025 | Helps care for a huge influx of animals due to the LA fires. On standby to send trained Animal Services Officers to help with pet rescue and reunification. |
| Florida Urgent Rescue | FL | Duval | Saves at-risk animals from kill shelters and other urgent situations, with a focus on helping animals in rural shelters with limited resources. | ALL | Assisted with disaster relief after the LA Fires, helping to reunite lost pets and transport animals impacted by the fires. Evacuated animals in rural shelters during Hurricanes Helene and Milton, helping more than 325 dogs and cats. |
| FOODiversity | NC | Iredell | Provides a consistent and reliable source of safe foods for those with food allergies, celiac disease, and food intolerances. | Hurricane Helene 2024 | Connected food banks with sources for allergen-friendly and gluten-free products, many in the form of donated products. |
| Not One More Vet | CA | Santa Clara | Provides mental health education, support, and resources for veterinarians and students, enabling those who care for animals to find the care they need for themselves. | California Fires 2025 | Provided emergency grants to veterinary clinics affected by natural disasters to keep them operating and supporting the animals in their community. |
| Wetlands and Wildlife Care Center | CA | Orange | Serves sick, injured, or orphaned wild animals in Southern California with the goal of rehabilitation and re-release back into the wild. | California Fires 2025 | Receiving wildlife affected by the Eaton and Pacific Palisades fires. |
| Sydney Paige Foundation | CA | Contra Costa | Partners with businesses and other nonprofits provide high-quality backpacks and school supplies to students in need. | California Fires 2025 | Working with the Pasadena School District impacted by the Eaton fires to provide high-quality backpacks filled with age-appropriate school supplies to students impacted by the fires. |
| Goatlandia Farm Animal Sanctuary | CA | Sonoma | Rescues and rehomes farm animals, educate people about eco-friendly lifestyles, and show the environmental impact created by animal agriculture. | California Fires 2025 | Rescued 14 animals who were displaced by the fires, fostering them and putting them up fora adoption. |
| Ziggy's Haven Bird Sanctuary Inc. | FL | Citrus | Provides a no-breed/no-kill facility for birds, advocacy, and community outreach initiatives. | Hurricane Milton 2024 | Provided free or reduced-cost boarding to people for their birds during Hurricane Milton. |
| Breastfeeding Family Friendly Communities | NC | Durham | Provides access to breastfeeding and milk support for families, and advocates for policies that protect nursing families’ rights. | Hurricane Helene 2024 | Delivered daily infant-feeding sanitation kits, conducted needs assessments, and facilitated human milk donations and milk sharing for families affected by Hurricane Helene. |
| The No More Foundation, Inc. | FL | Pasco | Provides training, outreach, and storytelling events to move people to action to serve the poor, orphans, and victims of human trafficking. | Hurricane Helene 2024 | Coordinated "boots on the ground" efforts that included refilling a food pantry, debris clean-up, providing basic necessities and supplies for families impacted by Hurricane Helene. |
| SHARE! The Self-Help And Recovery Exchange | CA | Los Angeles | Supports recovery and social support for those with substance use issues, trauma, mental health disorders, and dysfunctional relationships. | California Fires 2025 | Launched free disaster support groups for those affected by the fires in Southern California, and provided space for other displaced meeting groups. |
| Friends of the Redondo Beach Public Library | CA | Los Angeles | Promotes the public library to the community, raises funds to help the library acquire materials, collections, and special equipment, and helps publicize the library’s collections and programs. | California Fires 2025 | Donated books and puzzles to entertain people who had lost their homes and needed distractions, as well as provided high-quality books to schools and libraries in need. |
| South Bay Parkland Conservancy | CA | Los Angeles | Supports the restoration, preservation, and public use of coastal land resources in the South Bay Region. | California Fires 2025 | With partners, sourced and provided large amounts of native plant seeds to start the process of revegetation in burn-scarred areas of Altadena. |
| Urban Social Services and Advocacy | CA | Los Angeles | Fosters self-sufficiency, dignity, and inclusivity across housing, employment, reentry, mental health, and social services. | California Fires 2025 | Assisted unhoused individuals and low-income families find emergency housing, mutual aid, and harm-reduction supplies, and also connected them with mental health services, case management, and long-term recovery resources. |
| Growing Communities, Inc. DBA Crop Swap LA | CA | Los Angeles | Supports efforts to grow food on unused spaces in ways that create jobs, preserve water, and equitably distribute the food. | California Fires 2025 | Raised over $6,000 in two days, which was used to purchase items, gas, and cover other expenses for those affected by the Los Angeles fires. |
| Unite to Light | CA | Santa Barbara | Provides low-cost solar light and power to those without electricity across the globe. | Hurricane Helene 2024 | Provided over 1,500 solar lamps and solar phone chargers throughout North Carolina after Hurricane Helene. Also provided solar products to those affected by the Los Angeles fires. |
| Special Operations Radio Team | GA | Bibb | Supports local first responders with communications support, organizes lost people searches, and provides drone education. | Hurricane Helene 2024 | Supplied two-way radios to rural Telfair County, GA, in order to assist them with debris cleanup and disaster response from mutual aid partners. |
| National Council of Jewish Women Los Angeles (NCJW|LA) | CA | Los Angeles | Supports economic justice and equity for women in Los Angeles through direct cash assistance, skill building, and advocating for policies that safeguard women’s financial stability and prosperity. | California Fires 2025 | Collected donations and distributed emergency clothing vouchers and personal hygiene products. Also offered expanded services, including direct financial assistance to those who lost their jobs, homes, or other financial hardships. |
| Parkinson's Community Los Angeles/ PCLA | CA | Los Angeles | Works to improve the quality of life for people living with Parkinson’s disease throughout the greater Los Angeles area, and beyond. | California Fires 2025 | Provided clothing, food, and raised funds for those affected by the Palisades and Eaton fires, set up their website and social media to connect people to resources, and created virtual support groups for those impacted by the fires. |
| Peninsula Book Collaborative | CA | San Mateo | Provides a space for the next generation of book lovers to find books, learn together, and build community. | California Fires 2025 | Became a drop-off center for essential needs to send to victims of the Los Angeles fires. Collected over 50 boxes of supplies that went down to Los Angeles in a few different caravans. |
| Sandwiches From The Heart | CA | Orange | Prepares and delivers fresh sandwiches to shelters, food banks, and other community organizations that feed people in the local community. | California Fires 2025 | Delivered nonperishable food items to food distribution centers set up to serve those affected by the fires in Los Angeles county, and created a wish list for people to send donated items to be delivered. |
| HOPE Connection | CA | Los Angeles | Provides individual and group support, educational programs, and information that helps alleviate the pain of grief and promote healing. | California Fires 2025 | Licensed therapists helped grief support groups through the additional stress of being evacuated, having lost homes, memories, belonging, a sense of safety, etc. |
| On Sacred Ground Land Trust | WA | San Juan | Provides environmental education, partnerships for sustainability, and permaculture design, education, and installation. | California Fires 2025 | Offered workshops to help people affected by the Los Angeles fires approach re-building differently, using permaculture landscaping to mitigate wildfire and climate change issues. |
| Little Bitty Animal Sanctuary, Inc. | CA | San Diego | Provides food, permanent shelter, and veterinary care to farmed animals and domestic pets in need. They also provide animal care education. | California Fires 2025 | Took in animals from Pasadena facilities to free up space for animals affected by the Los Angeles fires. Collected and delivered donations of pet food and supplies donations. |
| Stamp Out Scams, Inc. | CA | Riverside | Provides information and resources for people to protect themselves from scams and financial exploitation. | California Fires 2025 | Created a guide for wildfire victims to protect them from scams targeting disaster relief funds. |
| Hill-Harbison House | CA | Los Angeles | Provides a permanent home for local Girl Scouts, as well as meeting space for other groups. | California Fires 2025 | Provided the house for use by the Pasadena Crown Poppy and Altadena Girl Scouts to collect and distribute donations to victims of the Eaton fire in Altadena. |
| Friends of the Oakland Tool Lending Library (FOTLL) | CA | Alameda | A volunteer group that supports the staff and programs of the Oakland Tool Lending Library. | California Fires 2018 | Provided tools and advice on operations and fundraising for a small tool library in a town affected by the 2018 Camp Fire in Paradise. |
| RiverRun International Film Festival | NC | Forsyth | Showcases great films and filmmakers to foster appreciation of cinema and a better understanding of the other people, cultures and perspectives. | Hurricane Helene 2024 | Provided funding and assistance to artists and arts organizations affected by Hurricane Helene. |
| The Mavuno Project | FL | Miami-Dade | Works to prevent human trafficking with the power of education and a message of hope. | Hurricane Milton 2024 | With a local partner, distributed hot meals to those displaced by Hurricane Milton. |
| Hollywood 4WRD | CA | Los Angeles | Works with the community to more effectively address homelessness in greater Hollywood. | California Fires 2025 | Worked with public and private partners to serve as a hub for various emergency response efforts during the Los Angeles fires. |
| Heart to Heart International | KS | Johnson | Ensures quality care is provided equitably in medically under-resourced communities and in disaster situations. | California Fires 2025 | Provided hygiene kits, medicine, medical supplies, and other essential items to those affected by the California wildfires as well as hurricanes Milton and Helene. |
| IDignity | FL | Orange | Helps U.S. citizens and legal residents in obtaining Florida ID cards and licenses, as well as documents needed to obtain an ID/license. | Hurricane Milton 2024 | Helped people replace their IDs or documents that were destroyed or lost during Hurricane Milton. |
| Unbroken Spirit | NC | Buncombe | Helps veterans transition from military to civilian life and provides tools for wellness and mental health. | Hurricane Helene 2024 | Distributed essential supplies and relief items, loaded and unloaded supply vehicles, assisted with cleanup efforts, and cleared homes of fallen trees. |
| Lary's Speakeasy | MD | Montgomery | Provides supplies to the laryngectomee community, as well as support, education, and advocacy for patients and speech pathologists. | ALL | Offered medical supplies at no cost to those impacted by the fires in California and damage from hurricanes Milton and Helene. |
| Social Vocational Services | CA | Los Angeles | Offers individualized programs for adults with developmental/intellectual disabilities. | California Fires 2025 | Donated snacks, water, and Gatorade to the Pasadena firefighters, and assisted with the Eaton Fire relief efforts at the Santa Anita Racetrack. |
