City Hall to Host Donation Drive for Valley Rescue Mission Destroyed in Fire

Originally posted at 1:07 p.m. May 27, 2014. Edited with new details.

Los Angeles city leaders will host a day-long donation drive at City Hall on Thursday to benefit the San Fernando Valley Rescue Mission, which was severely damaged in a May 3 fire.

The mission needs clothing and shoes, bedding, toys, canned goods to assist people displaced by the fire, as well as monetary donations to help rebuild, according to City Councilman Paul Krekorian, whose district includes the shelter.

Firefighters and other city officials will be volunteering from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on the south lawn of City Hall to collect donations.

The Los Angeles City Council unanimously approved the drive at today's meeting.

The blaze, which started in a pile of wooden pallets next door to the mission, gutted its emergency shelter at 13422 Saticoy St. in North Hollywood. About two dozen people were displaced, including 18 children.

The fire also damaged or destroyed mission-owned vehicles, a warehouse of thrift-store items and food pantry, "so in every way, the operation of the Rescue Mission has been set back severely," Krekorian said.

In addition to running the shelter, the mission also served 4,000 meals a year to people who were homeless or trying to avoid being so, he said.

The donation drive "is your opportunity to be able to help rescue the mission," Krekorian said.

--City News Service