Hearts and minds around the world are surely with the Los Angeles area, which has experienced catastrophic damage from wildfires that started last week and have ravaged idyllic neighborhoods like the Pacific Palisades and Altadena. As of publication time, approximately two dozen people have died, and more than 12,000 structures have been damaged or destroyed. Experts say that this could become the costliest wildfire disaster in U.S. history, according to the Los Angeles Times.

In the world of events, Los Angeles is a particularly special place. Countless planners, creatives, agencies, and other professionals from the industry call the city home, as do major entertainment events like the Oscars and Emmys. The Summer Olympics are even headed there in 2028.

So it's no surprise that one event-specific nonprofit is stepping up to help industry professionals in need. SEARCH Foundation was officially founded in 1997 specifically to assist meeting and event professionals in crisis, whether related to an illness, an accident, or a catastrophic occurrence like hurricanes, floods, and wildfires. Individuals in need can apply for grants that are fully funded by the industry and directly distributed back into the industry. 

“I woke up to text messages of people sending pictures of what was once their homes and asking: Does this apply for SEARCH Foundation?” says Kate Patay, chairperson for the foundation and vice president of global engagement for Terramar DMC. “I told them, 'Yes, that is exactly what it’s for.’”

Anyone who is in the meeting or event industry has access to SEARCH Foundation, she adds. Grants are 100% funded by the industry, whether from individual or company donations.

We recently caught up with Patay to discuss SEARCH efforts underway in Los Angeles and more about the lasting impact the foundation has had on the world of events...

When did SEARCH first activate for these wildfires in Los Angeles?

The day they started. I was actually on a trip down in Cabo, and one of our board members lives in the Los Angeles area—two of them do, but one of them lives in the affected area—and she sent a message that she was evacuating and that the winds were so bad. It was looking to be one of the worst that California has seen. So, immediately, our flag went up.

What is the foundation actively doing now to help people in L.A.?

We have a process in place when there's any natural disaster—whether it's these wildfires, the ones in Maui, when Hurricanes Milton and Helene hit—to get our crisis relief committee ready for an influx of cases so that we can turn them around within 24 hours. We have a subcommittee that goes out and looks for resources in those areas, which are already listed on our website for Los Angeles. It's additional resources on top of SEARCH Foundation, so it's anything that's government-related, local, and other unique things like where to take your large animals. We aim to answer questions like: Where are there additional options for funding? Where is there shelter? What other grants are available?

Our team actually takes the time to look for any single option, to vet it, and then to find the actual application. Because, sadly, if you go on a government website, you're going to click 25 times before you actually get through to the application. So we do that legwork as well.

How can other event professionals help?

The biggest piece right now is financial. People need help because they need to evacuate. They need to find shelter. So that's the majority of the ask. People are looking for funding so they can find shelter for the next one to three months until they figure out what insurance is going to cover.

I’d say the easiest way to help is donations. When you have an active, catastrophic incident like this, it's not about sending people or items or goods specifically into the community, because right now it's congested, between people trying to get out, trying to get first responders in. We've found that people will ask, 'Can I send diapers or bottled water?' If the Red Cross or someone else is asking for that, absolutely, yes. But our biggest focus is to just make sure people have food and shelter.

We’ve had a few companies step up and make donations to fund entire cases. And then we've had, in the last week, five new people join the SEARCH 100, which is our flagship donor program. You give a minimum of $100 per month in perpetuity. So by signing up for that, you give all year long, but you know that 100% of the funds go directly into the crisis relief fund.

What else should readers know right now?

Incidents like this happen in the blink of an eye. You hope that this is a resource that you're never going to need. But life changes quickly, and the people who are in harm's way right now probably never would have thought this would happen to them. So it's there for whoever needs it.

I hope that anyone reading this article is never in need of it, but if they are, I'm glad they know it's there. Be as generous as you possibly can, and just know that while these wildfires are happening, we're still actively funding people who are in accidents or have fallen ill. Other loss is still out there. Crisis never stops.

How did SEARCH begin back in the '90s?

We got our official 501(c)(3) status in 1997, but it actually started in 1990 or 1991. It was a very grassroots effort that started with the AIDS epidemic, and people in the industry just wanting to help each other out. We're hospitable; that's what we do. It grew rapidly and organically.

I'm guessing it was the only organization of its kind at the time, specifically for the event community.

Yes, and it's still the only one that is strictly crisis-based. There are a lot of foundations that exist, and the majority of them are education foundations, which are so necessary, and I support those. They've helped me with my career. SEARCH is truly the only crisis-based one, which is why we work alongside so many of those foundations. We don't compete with them; we're allies in this.

What has the foundation’s impact meant to you?

To me, it's the giveback. I feel like my community and industry have given so much to me, and I'm very fortunate to be where I am. So to me, this is my real giveback to the industry. We help elevate people; we have our associations and everything that we do to advance our careers and our networks and be better overall. And you hit a point in your career where you realize it's your duty to give back. So this is my giveback to our industry.

Donate to SEARCH Foundation here. For visitor updates and more resources and information on how you can help Los Angeles, visit this page from Discover Los Angeles.

This article originally appeared in our sister publication, BizBash.

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