A letter to friends

I haven't known what to write since the fires, but I had to update the people in my fantasy college basketball league about what was happening, so I just started writing and this is what came out.

An update from me. We are safe from the fires - the house we are renting is even further from the Eaton fire than where we were living. And ... it's awful here. We know 16 people who have lost their homes and countless more who have been displaced. (I just updated that from 15 to 16 while writing this because I just found out about one more)** Everything is covered with ash.

A few comments from someone "on the ground," if you are interested -- if not, feel free to ignore ... there's no more hoops in this email.

*if you are hearing reports or seeing videos of looting, do not believe them. if there have been incidents, they have been incredibly rare. What is happening is people showing up to help each other. One video of "looters" was debunked as a black family helping their white neighbors get stuff loaded into cars to save it from the oncoming flames.

*The financial need is incredible. And ... there are reportedly people who are setting up fake GoFundMe accounts trying to profit from this. If you would like to give, either give to the Red Cross or verified relief funds or to actual people you know are real.

If you have the means to give even a little, I would deeply love you to support one of those 16 families I know. Veronica Flores was my facilities manager and ran our film office at All Saints for much of my time there. She is amazing, creative, loving and generous. Her daughter, Lauren, was our annual girl scout cookie dealer.

Vero and her family not only lost their home but just before the fires, she was diagnosed with breast cancer and will have to begin chemotherapy soon ... all the while being homeless and dealing with all the trauma of losing everything except the people (and the fear of cancer, which is tremendous).

If I could pick one person for you to give to, it would be Vero and her family. If you can, please give what you can to:

https://www.gofundme.com/f/the-floreshunter-family-with-fire-and-cancer-relief

*If you are hearing stories about water mismangagement, please know they are untrue. That is people blatantly trying to politicize a tragedy. The simple truth is that the water systems in Pacific Palisades (and, I imagine, where you live) were not set up to handle the volume of water going through them that was needed to fight the fire. Water pressure eventually failed. This is something to learn from, not to blame about.

Here's a good, easy to understand story on this - https://laist.com/news/climate-environment/why-did-pacific-palisades-water-hydrants-run-dry

In general, this is not the time to blame ... this is the time to help. And when the fires are out, it will be time to learn from why this happened and to prepare for the future (and, if possible, change it).

*Speaking of helping, what I have seen over and over again is this bringing out the best in people. I can't even begin to tell you the number of people -- including people who have lost their homes -- who are concentrating on helping others. People are good. Love heals and triumphs. Always.

*Finally, if you are a person of faith ... two things.

-If your theology is that disasters like this are a punishment by God for sin -- or something like that - I would love to (later when the fires are out) have a conversation with you and hear from you about where that theology comes from, offer some alternatives, and let you know how incredibly destructive and hurtful it is. I don't believe most people who espouse what I believe are toxic theologies do so out of a desire to hurt ... and certainly if I have a theology that you believe is toxic I welcome your conversation. What I ask you now is, if you believe that, for now, keep it to yourself.

-I believe in prayer. I don't know how it works and I certainly haven't experienced it working as an ATM where God kicks out what I want. My most common prayer (other than "help" and "make it stop") is "love these people through me." If you pray, I encourage you to pray for everyone who is a victim of this disaster -- and man-made genocides and disasters and natural disasters all over the world. The more good energy sent out into the universe, the better. And ... it can't hurt.

Thanks, everyone.

Mike

**the number is now 17, as a subscriber to this stack just let me know they lost everything. We are a community … so if you have lost everything in the fire, please let me know and I will post your GoFundMe here. Here is Tom’s:

https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-house-the-ford-family-after-the-fire