Woman Rounds Up Donations After Friend Loses Everything in L.A. Fire. Now She’s Helping to ‘Adopt’ Families in Need (Exclusive)

Ginger Faith arrived in L.A. with two donation-filled trucks, but after her friend took what she needed, she had to figure out what to do with the rest

Courtesy of Ginger Faith On left sitting on donated sofa is Nitti Kaur and Ginger Faith. Behind them, from left to right, are helpers Jay Warren, Samy Rahmen and Jay Jay Warren. On right is Kaur's home in flames

Courtesy of Ginger Faith

On left sitting on donated sofa is Nitti Kaur and Ginger Faith. Behind them, from left to right, are helpers Jay Warren, Samy Rahmen and Jay Jay Warren. On right is Kaur's home in flames
  • Ginger Faith jumped right in when she discovered her friend Nitti Kaur lost her Altadena home in the California wildfires, rallying her San Francisco Bay Area communities to donate goods

  • That response resulted in an overwhelming amount of donations, which led the Livermore real estate broker to search for donation sites

  • Now, Faith and Kaur have started a Facebook group matching donors with specific families in need

Ginger Faith was ready to hop in her car from her home near San Francisco for a pre-planned visit to her friend in Altadena when she heard about the raging wildfires swooping towards Nitti Kaur’s neighborhood.

“I said that doesn’t sound good, so I called my friend,” Faith tells PEOPLE, adding that she quickly learned her friend had lost her home. “Obviously you don't know what to do. You don't even know what to say," she says.

But true to her name, the Livermore real estate broker took a leap of faith, rounded up donations to help both her friend and others devastated by the wildfires — then prepared to leave for Los Angeles as soon as possible. However, finding a place that could accept everything was difficult and it wasn't long before she decided to take another approach entirely: getting involved with LA Fires Adopt a Family.

Courtesy of Ginger Faith Some of the donations from the Livermore-Pleasanton communities for fire victims

Courtesy of Ginger Faith

Some of the donations from the Livermore-Pleasanton communities for fire victims

Faith says she learned a lot after whipping up support to help Kaur after she saw the text Kaur sent from her backyard showing the fire's approach.

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Kaur's partner, Mac Perry, who turns 50 this month, was born and raised in their Pasadena home and not only was he used to wildfires, but he felt safe in the knowledge that none had ever come close enough to damage the house.

“Being in California, especially SoCal, we are prone to fires,” Kaur says. “We never thought it could go this crazy wild. Never think it won't happen to you."

As the fire approached, they hosed down their home, shut off gas lines and asked neighbors to do the same. Then, with the fire continuing to creep nearer, they drove to Harbor Freight to get a fire hose and a pump to get water from their pool to put on the fire. By the time they returned, they were about 30 minutes too late to save their home.

Related: Fire Captain and Wife Detail Battle to Save Their Own Home from the L.A. Fires: 'Memories Are All We Have Left'

The home had been in her husband's family for 65 years, and Kaur could do nothing but helplessly watch as each room burned to the ground while fire engines raced past.

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“I was trying to flag them down, begging them to save my home, but they just kept going,” Kaur says.

They ended up losing everything inside.

Luckily, the couple had a vacant rental home they could move into, but had no furniture, household goods or clothing. Faith said she could take care of the furniture, and went on the local Livermore and Pleasanton social media community sites asking for donations. She also contacted a friend who did home staging.

“What happened very quickly was there was an overwhelming response from everybody with their hearts open,” Faith says.

Courtesy of Ginger Faith Santa Anita Racetrack distribution center

Courtesy of Ginger Faith

Santa Anita Racetrack distribution center

The local U-Haul donated trucks and the owner of the True Value Hardware store in downtown Pleasanton allowed people to drop off donations. It was at that drop-off site Faith spoke to a woman who told her why it meant so much for her to donate to the fire victims.

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She came with dog and cat food, telling Faith that when she was younger she was asleep in her home when it caught fire. Her cat woke her up, allowing her and her kitty to escape with their lives.

“Her cat saved her life,” Faith says. “She said I want to donate animal supplies in honor of the animals that hopefully have survived. That was such a sweet story.”

Related: She Lost Everything in L.A. Fires. Reality Sank in as She Shopped for New Clothes: 'I Broke Down Hysterical' (Exclusive)

Faith brought the donations to her home in Livermore the weekend after the fires started and gathered a group of volunteers to start loading the two 26-ft. trucks.

And while she was gathering and loading, she got calls from people asking her if she really wanted to take all the donations down to Los Angeles because of reports that the distribution centers were overwhelmed with donations.

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“I was a little nervous but I thought we’ll figure something out," she says. "I don’t know what it is at the moment, but I’m not going to stop just because I don’t know all the answers.”

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Faith's crew — including Jay Warren, his son Jay Jay, Samy Rahmen and Michael Bates — arrived in Altadena on Jan. 13, and Kaur took what she needed. But there was still a mountain of donated goods left over.

“So the next day I started making a lot of phone calls to churches, local Rotary, Rotary District. Nothing was jiving right away, but you keep going, keep going,” Faith says. “And this woman, Cheryl Hunter, who's a friend, found out the Santa Anita Racetrack was still accepting donations.”

So Faith and her crew drove to Santa Anita and discovered an extremely organized operation with areas marked for water, pet supplies, first aid, furniture, toys, and, “everything you could name that people would need,” from books to a prayer tent.

“About 20 volunteers showed up at our truck and started unloading,” Faith says, adding that they told her they could take everything except clothing because they had too much of it.

Related: Palisades Family’s Side-by-Side Homes Destroyed by L.A. Fires: 'It's Devastating' (Exclusive)

The organizer eventually relented and took even the large clothing donation so they could go back home with empty trucks. “It was an unbelievable blessing,” Faith says.

But one she says she’s not eager to repeat. After her adventure, Faith and Kaur are opting for a more targeted relief plan with a new Facebook page LA Fires Adopt a Family.  They are also being helped by Eric Lofholm, who initiated an Adopt a Family method to distribute goods after the historic Paradise, Calif., fire through matching donors and families in need.

Faith says her new Facebook group is a “perfect transition for what we did to marshal the resources of our community and give people an outlet so they were able to contribute in a meaningful way.”

As for Kaur, she knows she’s in for a long difficult journey to recovery.

“My heart is overflowing with emotions. There are very dark and sad emotions of losing everything, but there's also a lot of hope,” she says. “We're called City of Angels. There are so many angels around us. I have no words to express my gratitude.”

Click here to learn more about how to help the victims of the L.A. fires.

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