Recovery effort ‘Altadena Girls' helps teens impacted by Eaton Fire
Jan 16, 2025
Makeup, perfume, hair products, or a new outfit may all seem like luxuries to teenage girls who lost everything to the Eaton Fire.
It took 14-year-old Avery Colvert, whose school was burned down, to realize at a time like this such small comforts may be more necessary than ever.
“It’s like Christmas, yes it’s like the cherry on top of the sundae,” Jennie Marie Petrini, a victim of the Eaton Fire.
Petrini and her daughter Marli may have found their first reason to smile since the Eaton fire.
“I looked at some photos yesterday and that was definitely upsetting just to see all the work my mom put into the house and memories,” said Marli.
Like many Altadena families that lost their homes, it was a mad dash in the middle of the night taking with them only what they could carry.
“Four Guinea pigs, two dogs and one cat and ourselves. We both have medical issues, we are type one diabetics,” said Marli.
The Petrinis joined the hundreds of others in east Los Angeles Wednesday morning, in a line nearly a block long, to get into Altadena Girls.
“We’re walking around in pajamas with no shoes or day-week-old clothes,” said Marli.
According to its Instagram page, Altadena Girls is a charity organization restoring normalcy for the teenage victims of the Eaton Fire. They have collected new unopened makeup, a laundry list of other products, clothes and shoes.
“Having products that smell good and feel good and just a little moment to feel normal,” said Petrini.
Brand-named merchandise is being sent by the truckload through FedEx and other means.
“I couldn’t imagine having young children and having to tell them they’ve lost everything everybody wants to help,” said John Macho, who owns the building that houses the Altadena Girls donations. “I’ve got trucks and forklifts and boxes and warehousing space so I am offering whatever I can.”
At a time when tragedy seems to have taken away everything, Altadena Girls looks to help teens of a hurting community feel special in their normal routines.
View this post on Instagram A post shared by Altadena Teen Girls Fire Recovery (@altadenagirls)
According to the Altadena Girls’ Instagram page, the warehouse is not taking in any more donations until it has found a new location closer to fire victims.