by Cary Osborne
California Governor Gavin Newsom, Magic Johnson, Dodger President and CEO Stan Kasten and entertainment and sports executive Casey Wasserman stood side by side at Dodger Stadium on Tuesday to lift a fire-scarred region and make a historic announcement.
The group revealed the launch of “LA Rises,” a unified recovery initiative that brings together private sector leaders to support rebuilding efforts led by the city of Los Angeles, Los Angeles County and the State of California. LA Rises is led by a committee that includes Dodger chairman Mark Walter, Johnson and Wasserman. Johnson announced that Walter, the Mark Walter Family Foundation, and the Los Angeles Dodgers Foundation have provided an initial commitment of up to $100 million.
“This effort is about spirit. It’s about pride. It’s about those intangibles, the things you can’t legislate, things you can’t manifest,” Newsom said. “They just take shape because people come together across every conceivable difference, rowing in the same direction to do the right thing, to bend down on one knee to help lift other people up. And that’s the spirit of LA Rises.
“It’s around focusing on our sustainable pathway to recovery and rebirth, addressing all the situational challenges that we continue to face as it relates to getting people back into their homes, getting that debris removed, getting those permits processed and getting those homes rebuilt.”
Newsom thanked the committee for its work in launching LA Rises and praised the Walter family, the Dodgers and Los Angeles Dodgers Foundation for their commitment to help the fire-impacted communities.
Johnson also encouraged businesses and individuals to contribute to the recovery process for people and families impacted by this month’s devastating fires that destroyed homes, businesses, schools, and places of worship and took lives in Altadena, Pacific Palisades and surrounding communities.
“Let’s reach back and give back and help so many people who have been affected by these fires,” Johnson said.
Johnson also praised Walter for being a leader in the recovery process.
“Mark is a tremendous man, friend and partner, and for him to do this with the Dodgers Foundation — his wife Kim is tremendous as well — we’re so blessed to have him, not only as the owner of the Dodgers in leading us with Stan to win the World Series, but he wants to win for the community,” Johnson said.
This announcement also arrives while the Dodgers are in the middle of their annual Dodgers Love LA Community Tour presented by Bank of America, with many of the events centered around fire recovery efforts across Los Angeles.
The Dodgers and LADF hosted a fire relief event at Dodger Stadium on Jan. 17 supporting an estimated 2,500 people with resources, supplies and food. LADF hosted a fire relief distribution event on Saturday in Pasadena. LADF also announced earlier this month that raffle proceeds from Opening Day and the rest of that week will support wildfire nonprofit organizations. The Blue Diamond Gala, LADF’s biggest annual fundraiser, will also support L.A. wildfire relief efforts.
Fire recovery mission ‘LA Rises’ takes flight at Dodger Stadium was originally published in Dodger Insider on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.