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USAC, GSA allocate $30,000 to Bruin Relief Initiative for aid during LA wildfires

Undergraduate Students Association Council President Adam Tfayli speaks at a meeting of the council. USAC unanimously voted Tuesday to allocate $20,000 in discretionary funds to a student government-led relief initiative in response to the wildfires that have impacted Los Angeles County. (Leydi Cris Cobo Cordon/Daily Bruin senior staff)

By Lilly Wellons

Jan. 15, 2025 6:38 p.m.

This post was updated Jan. 16 at 10:25 p.m.

UCLA student government organizations have allocated $30,000 toward relief efforts as fires burn across Los Angeles County.

The Bruin Relief Initiative is a program that aims to involve the UCLA campus in wildfire relief and is planned to begin when in-person instruction – which is paused through Friday – resumes, said Undergraduate Students Association Council President Adam Tfayli. The three-pronged initiative will involve gathering and distributing resources, mobilizing volunteers and setting up funding avenues, he added. 

Fires have raged across LA County since Jan. 7, including a fire in Altadena that has burned over 14,000 acres and another in the Pacific Palisades that has scorched over 23,000 acres, leading to an evacuation warning adjacent to the UCLA campus, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. 

[Related: New evacuation warning for Palisades fire borders UCLA campus]

Though the UCLA campus is not under an evacuation warning as of 6 p.m. Wednesday, many students, staff and professors have been displaced by the fires.

[Related: ‘Everything is just gone’: Bruins grapple with homes lost in LA wildfires]

Tfayli said the initiative will be funded by a $30,000 allocation made by both USAC and Graduate Student Association President Noor Nakhaei’s office. USAC unanimously voted Tuesday to allocate $20,000 in discretionary funding to the program. Nakhaei said she contributed $10,000 in discretionary funding, adding that those funds are normally used for her office’s needs and supplies. 

“There’s so many people that really want to donate resources and are able to donate resources,” Tfayli said. “They don’t know where or how to give those resources to different shelters, and so we’re just going to facilitate that through collection on campus.”

Tfayli said the initiative will begin Tuesday – if classes are in person – with donation collection stations. He added that he hopes the UCLA administration will also contribute funding to USAC and GSA’s efforts.

In a written statement, UCLA Assistant Director of Media Relations Katherine Alvarado said Student Affairs is identifying financial relief resources for affected students, faculty and staff, adding that the university has organized Bruin Wildfire Relief Funds, which will collect donations for university affiliates impacted by the fires. Alvarado did not indicate in the statement whether the administration would contribute to the Bruin Relief Initiative.

Tfayli added that the initiative will be led by him, Nakhaei and other student government leaders. He also said Charlie Kratus, a second-year business economics student known for running the @goodmorningucla Instagram page, will manage the public-facing side of the initiative.

[Related: Instagram account goodmorningucla spreads humor, positivity across UCLA community]

USAC Community Service Commissioner Carolyn Wang said she is leading volunteer efforts for the initiative with the UCLA Volunteer Center and other members of USAC and GSA. Wang added that her goal is to connect students to different volunteer channels across LA and coordinate transportation logistics to get students to volunteering opportunities.

“USAC, and specifically the Community Service Commission, has a responsibility to be giving back to the community, to be responding to all of these quick changes and to be uniting and mobilizing students in ways that are helpful for our city,” she said.

GSA is currently gathering volunteer information and reaching out to students about volunteer opportunities, Nakhaei said. She added that if students are looking for ways to help, they should fill out volunteer interest forms that the association shared via its newsletter and Instagram.

“We’re trying to work on identifying them (students’ needs), identifying which students were impacted, how can we help our students and how can we help the community,” Nakhaei said.

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Lilly Wellons
Wellons is a News staff writer on the campus politics beat. She is also a second-year political science student minoring in Russian language.
Wellons is a News staff writer on the campus politics beat. She is also a second-year political science student minoring in Russian language.
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