The cash is burning, too.
Millions of dollars raised to help victims of the 2025 California wildfires have ended up in the coffers of unrelated nonprofits pushing a variety of progressive causes, a Washington Free Beacon review found. Some of the groups that have received funds explicitly exclude white people from their services, while others advertise programs for illegal aliens.
FireAid, a celebrity-studded fundraising organization that raked in about $100 million for wildfire relief efforts, has distributed money to more than 160 California nonprofits. Its flagship event on Jan. 30, produced by the Annenberg Foundation, featured performers like Billie Eilish, Lady Gaga, Dr. Dre, Stevie Wonder, and Sting, among others.
FireAid announced in February that it would distribute the money it raised “equitably,” a promise it appears to have kept. Greenline Housing Foundation, for instance, received funds from a $4.8 million pool dedicated to health and housing. It noted on its website that no whites need apply.
“In order to qualify for a grant through Greenline Housing Foundation, applicants must be a Black or Hispanic person,” the group stated.
Greenline told the Free Beacon that “anyone is welcome to apply for and receive” its fire-specific programs. But the wildfire section of its website clarifies that the organization “will focus [its] efforts on helping Black and Hispanic communities.”
The same is true for the Black Freedom Fund, a Black Lives Matter-era nonprofit dedicated to fighting “systemic racism” and promoting “Black power-building.” The organization—which received money from a $7.6 million pool dedicated to “disaster relief”—stated in a 2023 grant proposal document that it would only assist groups “led and controlled by Black people” and “primarily serving Black people.”
My Tribe Rise, which also received cash from that pool, has a similar mission. Founded in 2019, the organization states that its mission is “to take the stigma out of gangs and to educate people about the positive changes that are possible when people come together to end violence and meet the needs of Black and Brown communities.”
Other groups that have received money through FireAid offer assistance to illegal aliens within California. The Alliance for a Better Community, which describes its work as “advancing social, economic, racial equity and justice for the Latino/a community,” received money from the “disaster relief” pool and an additional $5.9 million tranche meant for “continued relief for wildfire victims and communities.”
The organization distributed the money it received from FireAid through its “Fuerza Fund,” described on the FireAid website as an arm of the Alliance for a Better Community that “provides immediate, direct cash assistance to essential workers and households impacted by the Los Angeles wildfires.”
On its own website, though, the organization states that it is “doubling down on [its] commitment to immigrant and undocumented families.”
“Now more than ever, we are doubling down on our commitment to immigrant and undocumented families—to ensure they are not just surviving, but reclaiming safety, power, and peace of mind,” the website reads.
The Fuerza Fund’s page states that, in addition to wildfire relief, it is focused on “confronting the fear caused by raids and displacement” through “delivering direct cash assistance, trauma-informed healing programs, and legal empowerment resources where they’re needed most.”
Home Grown, a nonprofit that supports home-based child care providers, received cash from a $3.5 million allotment for “children & families.” The organization’s website states that it is committed to steering funds to “undocumented providers” as well. The Instituto de Educación Popular del Sur de California, which received FireAid money, also runs programs for illegal aliens.
FireAid’s website lists numerous progressive activist groups, including the California Native Vote Project, which bills itself as a “first-of-its-kind statewide effort to engage Native American communities across dozens of counties to build political power through an integrated voter engagement strategy.”
The California Native Vote Project’s website reveals what it means by “voter engagement.” Emblazoned across the home page is a sign reading, “NO ONE IS ILLEGAL ON STOLEN LAND,” and the group has urged resistance against ICE raids on illegal aliens in the Golden State.
The organization, formed just three months before the 2016 presidential election, also played a large role in the anti-Trump “No Kings Day” protests in June of this year.
The California Native Vote Project did not respond to a Free Beacon request for comment on how it spent the money it received from FireAid.
FireAid’s website mentions no fewer than ten nonprofits dedicated to mental health issues. One such organization, the Nashville-based Music Health Alliance’s Music Industry Mental Health Fund, received money from a $3.3 million pool earmarked for “musicians and artists.”
The FireAid website states that the organization works to improve “access to mental health services for musicians affected by the fires,” but the Music Health Alliance’s fire relief page no longer exists. An archived version shows that the group offered no services of its own, instead listing other nonprofits that could provide resources.
None of the nonprofits aside from Greenline Housing Foundation responded to Free Beacon requests for comment.
FireAid’s website does not detail how much money each individual organization received in grants. A spokesman for the organization told the Free Beacon that those numbers will be available in a forthcoming audit from law firm Latham & Watkins.
FireAid dismissed “misinformation” about the group in a statement on its website.
“While there is much more work to do, the money raised through FireAid is delivering much needed assistance to as many people as possible, to foster healing and help LA recover stronger than before,” the statement reads.
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