14-year-old creates viral "Altadena Girls" recovery fund for teens impacted by Eaton Fire
One Pasadena teen just wanted to help her friends who lost their homes to the Eaton Fire, and now, she's created a viral movement.
The girl behind the "Altadena Girls" Instagram account is 14-year-old Avery Colvert. Her recovery fund grew overnight and now she is getting help from big names and brands to help even more wildfire victims.
The Eaton Fire's devastation is personal for Colvert. She didn't lose her home, but many of her friends did like thousands of others.
"Stuff like their clothes, their makeup, [what they used for] their hair, it's all gone," Colvert said. "They don't have any of that anymore."
Fire officials said the Eaton Fire has damaged or destroyed more than 7,000 structures. In over a week, the blaze has burned more than 14,000 acres.
"I was in a group chat actually with all of my friends who lost their homes in the fire. And they were all talking about things that they didn't have," Colvert said.
Colvert had an idea to help teens affected. After getting in contact with the Hollywood Beauty Awards, the Altadena Girls was born.
Colvert said the mission is to restore normalcy for teen girls impacted by the fire. She focused on trying to gather beauty products, hair care products, clothing, and other personal items.
"I want them to feel respected and loved, especially in a hard time like this," Colvert said.
It wasn't long before her efforts started to go viral, thanks to Altadena Girls' posts getting shared by celebrities like Paris Hilton and Charli XCX.
Donations came flooding in, and as they did, Colvert made sure to include products more tailored to people of color.
"There were so many hair stylists and brands that were asking us, 'Hey, can we give free hairstyles to these girls?' But, they didn't specialize in Black hair and I really wanted that for them. I really wanted them to feel special," Colvert said.
On Monday's first shopping day, many families left with bags of goods. So many donations came in that volunteers had to stop accepting them around 1:30 p.m.
At first, Altadena Girls was not accepting monetary donations. Matt Chait, Colvert's stepdad, didn't want her handling large sums of money. But since things have changed and grown overnight they now have a link where people can donate money.
Colvert hopes the momentum keeps going.
"This is just still the beginning and we're still moving so fast," she said.
To get the latest shopping hours and donation needs, Colvert recommends following the Altadena Girls on Instagram.