Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson Are Donating $1 Million to Aid Los Angeles Wildfire Recovery: 'Everything Helps'

Mar. 15, 2025

Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson in Los Angeles on Nov. 19, 2022.Photo:Emma McIntyre/WireImage

Emma McIntyre/WireImage

Tom HanksandRita Wilsonare donating toLos Angeles-area wildfirerelief in a big way.

On Friday, Feb. 21, the couple announced they are giving $1 million to five different organizations to help aid in recovery, weeks after the devastating blazes ripped through several neighborhoods throughout Southern California.

The pair went on to express their gratitude “for the First Responders and Firefighters, from all over, who fought with all they had in order to save homes and people.”

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“Now we must all move forward to what is next for our city, communities, and neighbors,” Wilson and Hanks continued. “We are donating $1 million between the following organizations to help support those in need and those who aided.”

They then listed the organizations — theMotion Picture and Television Fund, theLos Angeles Fire Foundation, theSAG-AFTRA Foundation Disaster Relief Fund, theAmerican Red CrossandMusiCares— along with tagging their respective Instagram accounts.

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Wildfire in Pacific Palisades, Los Angeles, on Jan. 7, 2025.ROBYN BECK/AFP via Getty

ROBYN BECK/AFP via Getty

The largest were the Eaton and Palisades Fires, although a number of smaller blazes continued to erupt throughout the month. According to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner, there have been at least29 deathsattributed to the fires.

On Jan. 31, the California Department of Forestry Protection (CAL FIRE) confirmed that the Palisades and Eaton wildfires — which devastated neighborhoods across Los Angeles County, including Pacific Palisades, Malibu, Pasadena and Altadena — haveofficially been fully contained.

Chet Hanks, the 34-year-old son of Hanks and Wilson, previously shared a devastating update with his Instagram followers regarding his hometown on Jan. 7, when the fires began,

“Theneighborhood I grew up in is burningto the ground rn,” Chet wrote in a text post on his Instagram Stories at the time.

“Pray for the Palisades,” he added, along with a prayer-hands emoji.

source: people.com