Avery Colvert, 14, never imagined her recovery fund for the teenage victims of the Eaton Fire, one of multiple blazes raging in Los Angeles County, would go viral, but less than 24 hours after its creation, it did just that. Paris Hilton posted about Altadena Girls on her Instagram story. Then Mindy Kaling. Then Charli XCX.
“Holy cow,” Colvert tells TIME via email. “It’s bonkers here.”
Colvert’s school, Eliot Arts Magnet Academy in Altadena, Calif., burned down in the Eaton Fire. Though Colvert’s family home in Pasadena fortunately survived, most of her friends lost everything. “There’s maybe a small handful of people I know whose houses are spared,” she says during a FaceTime conversation on Jan. 11. Most of her friends evacuated in the middle of the night with only the clothes on their backs, which were pajamas. “I envisioned my own bedroom and I was thinking about how my clothes, makeup, and shoes—everything—is my identity and it’s my sense of self. And it’s the same thing for all of my friends and all these girls who lost everything in the fire.” Colvert wanted her friends to be able to feel normal again. “I was like, okay, Pasadena Civic Center has the necessities, but I want specific items for these girls so they can feel like themselves again and get their confidence back,” she says.
On Jan. 10, Colvert and her stepdad, Matt Chait, 44, whipped up a logo and secured the Instagram handle. On Jan. 11, Colvert posted about the project. They weren’t even planning on accepting donations until the next day, but the page quickly gained traction. All of a sudden, trucks loaded with donations were pulling up to the temporary accommodation where Colvert and her family are staying until the air quality improves, and volunteers just started showing up, ready to work. By the end of the day, high-profile brands such as Skims, Orebella, and Huda Beauty had all reached out. “It’s like a CVS in here,” says Chait.
After sending volunteers…
