A Los Angeles Teen Started a Recovery Fund for Wildfire Victims. Now It’s a Movement

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 home at the end of the first day, Colvert, accompanied by her stepdad, talks about how she started the project and what she hopes to achieve with it.

TIME: How exactly did this project come about?

Matt Chait: We evacuated and we’re staying here at a creative studio that I work at. So I figured this is what we do. We do graphic design and web stuff. So we whipped up a five second logo and found that the name “Altadena Girls” was somehow magically there and got it. And then I called my friend Pam, who’s the producer of the Hollywood Beauty Awards, and I think by the time she posted it, the virality [had started] and it just took off from there. And then once this Paris Hilton thing was posted earlier today, that was a thing.

AC: And all these volunteers… We have a group of about 10, 15 people who all showed up. I had never met these people in my life. I DMed with a few of them on Instagram, but I need to start being very limited with that because it’s completely blown up. They’ve been organizing everything that’s been coming in. It’s great. And I said, “Hey, I need clothing racks and I need boxes.” I just made a little post on my Instagram and within 30-35 minutes, people are coming in with all the things we need. It’s insane. It’s miraculous that all these people came so quickly.

How many emails do you think are in the inbox right now?

AC: We have no idea. 

MC: While you’re talking, every second one pops up on the screen. Hundreds and hundreds. We’ve been working, so I don’t even know when we’re going to have time to dig through that. But, countless. From corporate emails and PR companies, and also just from a lot of people outside of L.A. emailing from Chicago, whatever, saying, “Can we ship stuff? Can we mail stuff?” We’re going to literally have to get help.

What is the best way for people to help you?

MC: It seems like we have a lot of stuff because it all came in so fast, but once these girls start coming in and shopping, it’s going to go really fast. So although we are overwhelmed with donations right now, we will need more. When these girls show up, they’re not each going to take one shirt and leave. They have nothing. So if a girl comes in and wants five or 10 things, she should take five or 10 things.

AC: We have not been accepting used items… These girls have nothing. I don’t want them to have to dig through a bin of used clothes. I want them to have new things. The whole community in Los Angeles—entertainment, beauty, everything, fashion—is so amazing. And there’s influencers [donating]. I was thinking, “There’s probably some influencers who get PR and stuff.” It’s absolutely wild. These girls are going to get everything they need and more.

MC: One of the women who was here today was from Aritzia [a clothing retail company], and so perhaps if some stores over the next week or so step up, just to help us make it not feel like a rummage sale for these girls. I think that makes a big difference in dignity. The girls need bras. That’s a big one. And that’s kind of embarrassing for teenage girls to ask for. And there’s no one donating bras to the Pasadena Civic Center. 

AC: Pink by Victoria’s Secret. That would be fantastic.

[People can visit the Altadena Girls Instagram page to see further ways they can help.]

Is there any specific brand or celebrity you’d love to hear from?

AC: This is a big one: Billie Eilish. 

Are you accepting money?

AC: We’re just saying “no money, no nothing.” I had conversations with some of the people who dropped off donations today, and they’re saying people went to Target and Costco for huge bags of makeup, feminine products, literally everything we need. And they had their Venmo linked on their Instagram and were like, “Hey, I’m going to help out Altadena Girls.”

MC: Two girls came by and said, “We raised a thousand dollars, so tell us what you need.” And then they left and they came back a couple hours later with a truck full of stuff. They took the money and they spent it. Avery’s 14. So she can’t be handling other people’s money. It’s too much. And if people really want to [give] money, there’s a lot of GoFundMes.

Do you feel even more empowered as a young person after being able to do something like this?

AC: I honestly feel like it hasn’t even hit me yet. I’m probably going to sit down when I go to bed tonight and just… When I had this idea, I couldn’t even think about how big this would be. While I’m grabbing donations, organizing items, my phone is just completely blowing up. I don’t even know what the page is at now, but it’s fantastic. This could turn into something really good.

MC: Avery’s going to find other opportunities to use it for good. Right now it’s a clothing drive, but once they have their clothes, there’s going to be so much other stuff. Girls need music. There’s so much stuff they need. It’s not a priority right now, like feminine products and all the other things that are high priority. But I like the idea that it clearly hits a spot for people. 

I’m sure having this is a resource for mental health, knowing so many people have gone through something so traumatic together.

AC: I made a post about mental health and how it’s taking a toll on me just thinking about all these people. There are thousands of people completely displaced who have nothing and it’s just really sad and I want these girls to get the resources they need. So that’s probably something I’m going to touch on next after we get the clothes.

How long have you lived in Pasadena?

MC: We moved here four years ago from Nashville, Tenn. to Altadena. 

AC: Our house was damaged in Nashville, too. We lost our house in a flash flood.

I am so sorry. It seems like you know the feeling of rebuilding well. 

AC:  In March of 2020, there was a giant tornado in Nashville that ripped through everything, and it was before they announced lockdown. So our whole city was basically in shambles. But then when we were planning our move to California [in March 2021], our house and entire neighborhood was flooded with the flash flood. Luckily, I wasn’t at the house at the time, but my mom was there with my cat and she had to hide in the attic.

MC: She climbed up in the attic as the house filled up with water, and I was on the phone with 911 trying to tell them how to take a boat down the street and come in through the roof. 

AC: It’s a whole story. But we know the feeling well. 

It’s so impressive that you’ve been in California for a relatively short time and you’ve already seemed to establish such roots with a community.

AC: Oh yes. Even just my school, Elliot Arts Magnet. Such a beautiful school. I’m completely heartbroken. I haven’t even seen it yet. I haven’t been back to Pasadena. We saw the pictures. 

I have been a class president and I was the student activities coordinator. I did so much there. They had an amazing theater program and a huge, beautiful auditorium, which is one of the things that is completely destroyed. They used to have wonderful musicals. I remember the first show I did there, it was Peter Pan, and they actually had the kids “fly” in the air and I got to fly. It was incredible.

Altadena is amazing. Everyone knows everybody there. Everybody is willing to help each other out. The Altadena slogan was “Beautiful Altadena,” and there’s a page [on Instagram] called Beautiful Altadena, and it was such a great place, and it’s all gone. I really hope that we can rebuild.