Eight months after the flashy FireAid concert in Los Angeles that raised nearly $100 million for victims of the disastrous fires in January, victims are still wondering where the money ended up.

According to the New York Post, the event was supported by top artists, including Billie Eilish and Lady Gaga, as well as political figures. However, according to an account published by the Annenberg Foundation – the body that manages the funds – the money was directed to 197 different organisations and initiatives, with no direct aid to the households that lost their homes!

The recipients

– A charity focused on buying uniforms for children in choirs received $100,000,

– A pet health care program received $250,000,

– Organizations focused on political advocacy for minority groups,

– A program for forest “regeneration” received half a million.

Money was also handed out for…podcasts about wildfires, mental health musicians(!) and even Native American voter registration campaigns.

The organizers defended their choices, outrageously arguing that they had never committed that the funds would be given directly to fire victims! However, for many of the residents who lost their homes, the reality is harsh.

What the fire victims say

“There are a lot of people in our group conversations who say ‘where’s the FireAid money going?’ Because I don’t think any of us have seen a dime,” Ben Einbinder, who lost his home in Palisades and has since become a community volunteer.

For his part, Pacific Palisades resident David Howard said the problem for him and many of his neighbors is not about any particular organization that has received money from FireAid, adding that many of them are probably doing a good job. Instead, he said, there are simply too many charities receiving the money to use it in a coordinated and meaningful way to help fire victims. Of course, that assumes that all the organizations are directly helping fire victims, which no one has been able to verify...

Howard acknowledges that the event organizers never said they would give cash to the victims. However donors, concertgoers and even the performers themselves didn’t seem to get the message. “When an artist gets on stage and tells you that the money is going directly to the survivors of this disaster, and that’s not true, that’s a problem,” he said.

When asked to comment on the matter, the foundation Annenberg referred to the audit report, which it commissioned from a law firm. The audit found no evidence of “false statements in the solicitation of charitable funds,” “inappropriate selection of beneficiaries” or “fraud,” according to the report.