“Everybody who’s out there and helping and doing their part, thank you,” the actress said in an emotional Instagram video
Eva Longoria made a heartfelt pledge.
On Saturday, Jan. 11, the actress, 49, shared an emotional video message on Instagram amid the ongoing Los Angeles wildfires.
In her video, Longoria said she’s donating $500,000 to the organization This Is About Humanity to support frontline workers and families who have been impacted by the fires.
“It’s been a crazy week,” she said, “devastating for so many people, so many friends who’ve lost a lot … Memories and things that people have worked really hard for.”
The Desperate Housewives alum then revealed that she and her family evacuated their home because they were “under a warning” and “kept getting an alarm.” However, she added that she is now housing friends “who had evacuated from other areas.”
“We’ve donated clothes, I literally emptied out my pantry to take down to all of the places that are accepting donations,” Longoria continued. “I am going to be supporting This Is About Humanity. They are matching up to $500,000 for frontline essential workers and families that are impacted by the fires. I’m going to be matching that $500,000 personally.”
The actress explained the money will “support all of these families who are working tirelessly to keep us sustained with food. These farm workers are still going out there and producing and picking our produce and dangerous conditions. And so we’re going to be supporting This Is About Humanity.”
She began to wrap her video with an inspirational message, telling L.A. residents to “just stay strong.”
“I know there’s a lot of stuff on social media. I don’t think it’s the time to analyze what went wrong. We’ve got to get a hold of the situation right now,” Longoria said. “So everybody who’s out there helping and doing their part, thank you.”
The actress noted that “everybody’s been so helpful” during this tragedy.
“People are coming together in beautiful ways and it’s beautiful to watch,” she said. “I’m going to continue to post links and places you can help, volunteer and donate. Everybody who’s out there and helping and doing their part, thank you. God bless all the firefighters putting their lives on the line to save our lives and our homes. To everybody helping, thank you.”
Longoria reemphasized her pledge in the caption of her post.
“My heart breaks for the City of LA and the devastating fires that have affected so many lives,” she wrote. “I’m personally matching $50k to @thisisabouthumanity’s efforts to support frontline essential workers, farm workers, day laborers and families impacted by these wildfires. I hope we can come together and support these resilient members of our community.”
The wildfires started on Tuesday, Jan. 7 and have displaced more than 80,000 people, including many celebrities.
The L.A. County Medical Examiner has reported 16 fatalities as of Jan. 11. In addition, Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna said at a news conference on Jan. 12, that at least 16 people have been reported missing since the wildfires started, per The New York Times.
