Southern California couple transforms home into donation center for wildfire evacuees
Many across Southern California and elsewhere have mobilized to help evacuees impacted by the wildfires, including one local couple who quickly transformed their home into a donation center as the Eaton Fire impacted their beloved community.
Cheyenne and Zach Davis transformed their Porter Ranch home into a makeshift donation center after seeing how the Eaton Fire impacted those around them. Family and friends, who are also from the Pasadena/Altadena area, have helped them coordinate and organize the relief effort.
“I’m from Altadena. I was raised in Altadena. My church is in Altadena, our schools, my family home, all of my family members and friends from Altadena have lost their homes,” Cheyenne Davis told KTLA. “We live in Porter Ranch, so it didn’t affect us as much as it affected the world around us, and just seeing firsthand how this was affecting people, it just laid heavy on my heart.”
The couple, who appear on “MTV’s Teen Mom: The Next Chapter” and have a significant following on Instagram and Snapchat, were asked by people out of state how they can help wildfire victims.
“I couldn’t sleep one night and started an Amazon wish list. I think I put 100 things on it and posted it on Snapchat. I checked within five minutes, and everything on it was purchased,” Cheyenne Davis said.
The list grew as more people reached out with suggestions. Cheyenne noted that at one point, there were 1,600 Amazon orders, all scheduled to be delivered to her house.
The couple decided to host the donation center at their house after volunteering for two days and realizing how impersonal and overwhelming the experience could be for wildfire victims.
“This is a very intimate and personal thing, so it’s hard for someone who’s not used to asking for help to go to a big public center and have to sort through clothes that are on the floor. We’ve been able to open our home to not only people sending things but also to people who are like, ‘Hey, my daughters are in high school, and can we come in and shop at your house because they’re embarrassed,” Cheyenne said.
The couple plans to keep the donation center running for the foreseeable future.
“I feel like right now, there are a lot of needs, so we are going to keep our house open to people who need things,” Zach Davis said.
So far, the Davis family has been able to help people through word of mouth, but as the donations continue to grow, Cheyenne and Zach Davis will move the donations to a building in Sherman Oaks so more of the public can access it and pick up items they need.
For those in need, the pickup center will be at Star Suites, located at 15149 Ventura Blvd. in Sherman Oaks. The center will be open from noon to 5 p.m. from Wednesday, Jan. 15, until Friday, Jan. 17.
Those who want to donate items for the donation center can do so here.
More information can be found by following Star Suites, Cheyenne, and Zach Davis on Instagram.