Facebook To Match $500,000 In Donations For Wildfire Relief

MENLO PARK, CA -- Sometimes the greatest tragedies tap into humanity's biggest intentions to help -- as with the company known best for its connections.

Facebook is matching up to $500,000 in donations made to the American Red Cross in addition to it donating $250,000 the philanthropic organization to help with recovery and relief efforts for those affected by the wildfires raging across California, the social media giant's Crisis Response Team spokesman Aften Meltzer confirmed.

All donations made on the crisis page or through the Donate Button on the top of Newsfeed are eligible for the match.

People looking to help those impacted by the fires can visit the Crisis Response pages to donate to relief efforts, create a fundraiser or offer help. One can find the crisis response page for the Camp Fire here and Woolsey Fire here. The former has gained the notoriety of being California's deadliest and most destructive in history.

Between the two devastating fires, 44 people have lost their lives, 7,217 structures of which are mostly homes have been destroyed, thousands displaced, six firefighters injured, page-long lists of roads closed and more than 225,000 acres scorched. Still, full containment for the Camp and Woolsey fires is weeks away, with 72,000 structures threatened as of Tuesday afternoon.

The response from individuals and organizations to help has grown substantially.

So far for one of the largest employers in the Silicon Valley, more than 350 requests for help and more than 1,400 offers to assist across the Crisis Response pages for both wildfires have spread across the website.

Users have tapped into Facebook Fundraisers to get help for those impacted most. Here are some examples:

• Carmella has raised more than $7,400 for her mom, Lynda, who lost everything in the fire that affected the Malibu area. She doesn’t have renters insurance and needs help getting back on her feet.
• Rachel raised more than $7,200 for LA County Fire to help them get more supplies.
• Calley is a lifelong Chicoan and has raised over $4,800 to support the North Valley Community Foundation with their efforts to help provide shelter to evacuees.

Emergency response non-profit Direct Relief is using Facebook's Disaster Maps to monitor evacuations, communicate with local health centers and determine where to distribute over 10,000 respiratory masks.

--Image via Shutterstock