Sweet Relief reaffirms transparency following FireAid scrutiny
Credit: Ethan Swope, The Associated Press
The fires that tore through the greater Los Angeles area back in January of this year were devastating. They consumed over 40,000 acres of land and displaced nearly 200,000 residents, according to the United States Geology Survey. The tragedy that came to the City of Angels was tangible—the pain of the families of the 30 dead, the countless injured, left homeless, or businessless or hopeless.
But when devastation of L.A. was felt around the world, relief came in many forms, including FireAid, a benefit concert that raised approximately $100 million for wildfire relief efforts. However, the organization has come under critical speculation. Rumors have swirled amongst critics, especially on Reddit, regarding how the donations were distributed.
A Fox News segment titled “FOLLOWING THE MONEY: Where did LA ‘FireAid’ funds go?” was released, mentioning Sweet Relief Musicians Fund directly. Sweet Relief was founded in 1994 by Victoria Williams, a musician struggling to fund her own health battle. The charity has grown in the thirty years since its conception into an established organization dedicated to its original mission—to fund musicians and musician affiliates through their hardships.
Sweet Relief Musicians Fund was founded in 1994 to fund musicians and musician affiliates through their hardships.
Through the course of the news segment, the Fox News interviewed impacted residents of Palisades and Altadina, who claimed they never directly saw any money. Fox News mentioned The Armory Center for Arts, IDEPSCA, and Sweet Relief in the same breath. The news organization verbalized that the charities had not responded to FOX News’ questions regarding how many “musicians it assisted.” Included in the piece was an explainer statement released from FireAid to FOX LA:
“FireAid does not have the capability to make direct payments to individuals and that was never the plan. To deliver aid to the community we partnered directly with trusted local nonprofits who have the capacity to reach the communities in need.”
On July 31, Sweet Relief issued an official statement amidst swirling rumors regarding the misplacement of funds raised through the FireAid:
“There has been considerable confusion regarding FireAid, and we would like to clarify our role in the fundraiser. Sweet Relief received $250,000 and is disbursing 100% of the funds via emergency financial assistance grants to music industry professionals affected by the fires.
According to Sweet Relief's policy regarding natural disasters and as per the agreement with FireAid when we accepted the funds, Sweet Relief retains no funds for overhead or administrative costs.
Sweet Relief is grateful for our role in this mission to help Los Angeles in this time of need.”
The statements released by FireAid and Sweet Relief seem to reiterate the intention of the money raised by the benefit concert. Aid was never calculated to be delivered as direct financial reimbursement to victims of the fires; rather, to nonprofit organizations such as Sweet Relief which assist individuals through existing programs.
While criticism and critical thinking are a vital part of society as a whole, misplaced cynicism can often be a byproduct of this way of thinking. Have urgency to understand your questions, the flaws in logic, and discrepancies of truth, and also accept the answers that come.