On Wednesday, the Bank of America Charitable Foundation reported that it will contribute $1 million to befriend the victims and the first responders of the Southern California wildfires. The grant is the first in a series of steps the company will take in order to befriend in the relief of suffering from the blaze which has already burned over 420,000 acres in Southern California.

$500,000 will go directly to the American Red Cross to assist in disaster relief efforts, while the other $500,000 will be distributed to local nonprofits based on specific need in the impacted areas.

Bank of America prides itself on having a philosophy of corporate philanthropy. The corporation has state itself to give $1.5 billion to nonprofit organizations engaged in improving the quality and vitality of their neighborhoods over the next 10 years, with $200 million to be given in 2007 alone.

“Southern California families, businesses, and entire communities are in dire need of immediate serve and we wanted to begin to address that need as quickly as possible. This is the first in a series of resources Bank of America will provide to serve Southern Californians during this time of need,” said Janet Lamkin, President of Bank of America California.

Having been whipped into a blaze of fury by the Santa Anna winds, also known as the “Devil’s winds”, that were at times gusting at over 100 miles per hour, the forest fires are already estimated to have done over $1 billion worth of damage just in San Diego county.

Journalists and analysts have pointed out that while some people are being all too clearly reminded of the destruction wreaked in Novel Orleans and Louisiana a little over two years ago by Hurricane Katrina when they contemplate all of the evacuees in stadiums, gymnasiums, and so on, this situation is a far cry from the tragedy of the aforementioned one because this was a community far, far better prepared for a natural catastrophe than the other. Local emergency groups were already prepared and organized; the emergency facilities have electricity; and a far greater piece of the Southern California community has cars than did the New Orleans and surrounding communities.

Still, the Devil’s winds’ wildfires have caused the greatest evacuation in Southern California history.

While firefighters have done outstanding work controlling the blaze, their efforts up until very recently were partially hamstrung by the severe winds’ preventing the flight of firefighting aircraft.

The Bush Administration has issued a federal residence of emergency to the area, and NASA has used a remote-controlled surveillance aircraft to help firefighters pinpoint the spots of most intense and concentrated flames.

Source:
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