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When Eaton Wildfire swept in Los Angeles, Nick Karanza, 45 -year -old content manager and producer, rushed to his friend’s home for a long time, and was fighting 15 -foot fire without any firefighting men on the horizon. Together, they managed to extinguish the fire using water from the swimming pool in a neighbors.
Karansa, a former resident of Altadena, could not sit on the margin during the crisis. He created he and a few of his friends.One campaign of love “gofundme To help Altadena residents of the weak displaced fires.
“The Madina is a diverse society with people from all social and economic backgrounds,” Karansza said. “I knew there would be people with trouble.”
After reaching a preliminary target targeted of $ 10,000, Gofundment continues to raise moneyWith the returns that will help black and Latin families with their donations collection campaigns.
Since the outbreak of southern California fires earlier this month, more than 600,000 donors have contributed to Gofundment campaigns. As of January 24, more than 200 million dollars were raised on the platform to help families, companies and communities affected by the crisis, according to the representative of the company.
the site California is the axis of forests It collects a large number of individual donations and stubbornness The relief box of wildfire Send “Emergency relief grants of $ 1,000 each for individuals who lost homes, loved ones and property due to the fires of Palisades, Eaton and Hurst. ”
If you are interested in starting or Donation of the GoFundMe campaign To help thousands of people who are affected by the continuous southern California fires, it is important to know where to start, how to check the beneficiaries and what are the pitfalls you may face.
How does GofundMe work?
Gofundment is a group finance platform where people create pages to collect donations for themselves or their loved ones who face financial hardship, whether because of expensive medical treatment, costly accident or a Natural disaster.
The platform is easy to use. With a series of claims, you can quickly Prepare a campaign And the goal of collecting donations for your case. Once your donations are live, you can add more information or change the donation collection goal. You can request withdrawing money after starting your campaign, with transportation usually continuing from two days to five working days.
To cover the process of payment, the standard fees are currently deducted, currently 2.9 % in addition to 30 cents per transaction, from donation. Anyone can be given and contribute to less than 5 dollars in a fundraising campaign.
Why do people use GofundMe to relief from disasters?
The main reason people use Gofundme Disaster Relief It is the ease of spreading the word through personal networks. You can share the link to a fundraising campaign via email, text or social media.
For example, after I donated several campaigns from their acquaintances who lost their homes in forest fires, I shared the links on my social media, which helped to provide more donations.
Gofundment also has an advantage over other official aid sources because it is immediately available. Individuals who are waiting for grants, loans, or other assistance forms often turn into Gofundment for faster relief or increased awareness of their cause.
How do you know if the gofundme page is legitimate or a fraud?
Gofundment has measures to discover Possible fraud operations And prevent the misuse of the platform. According to its location, Gofundment giving a guarantee The donors provide a full recovery if there is an indication of abuse or fraud.
A spokesman for GOFUNDME told CNET in an email message that the collection of donations is subject to a review of reinforcement, which includes supervision of trust and safety experts and technical tools to help misuse any misuse.
However, fraud can occur. It is better to donate to the campaign organizers and the beneficiaries you know personally or through a family member or a joint friend. Look for contradictions and know anything that looks suspicious – for example, if the story is not added or if the names on the donation page do not match the recipient.
“Always do your search before donating,” said Tae Stewart, founder of Tae Stewart. Help financial solutions. “There are checks in place, but you should do your duty.”
You can also do a search in a Google image to vice to verify any source or information. My friend tried this to collect La Fires donations after noting that something had stopped. The photo site was in Ohio, not the hands.
In the Caranza case, he and his colleagues are confirmed by the campaign organizers of donations rudely by personally communicating with needy families and learning about their circumstances. For example, they emphasized that the elderly couple who were giving a home and daytime care to lose both of their homeland and the source of income in forest fires.
Is money from Gofundme limits federal aid options?
Since the outbreak of forest fires in Los Angeles, some experts have warned that the collective donations that were received from GOFUNDM could limit the amount Federal aid you receive.
Brandi Richard Thompson, Fema Public Affairs Officer, said that the agency cannot repeat the assistance that individuals receive from another source, whether it is to pay insurance or donation.
To clarify this, those who receive external donations are not automatically excluded from federal aid. But if someone has a GoFundMe campaign to rebuild their home because his house is burned, it may be explained as receiving money elsewhere for the same loss.
“The case) must be reviewed to ensure that it does not repeat the benefit they receive from the federal government,” said Richard Thompson.
However, if someone shows that he only collects money for temporary needs (food, shelter or clothes), this should not affect the amount of what he can receive from the federal government.
Fema Forest fire page in California It provides information on programs, financing and resources available to residents affected by forest fires. the The deadline for progress For Fema rental assistance to the displaced population, March 10, 2025.
If you collect funds on Gofundment, do you have to pay taxes on it?
Personal gifts are usually not exempt from taxes, so you should not worry much about paying taxes on the funds you receive. “You can think about it as if a friend gave you $ 10,” Stewart said. “You will not report it as an income on your taxes.”
However, based on how to process pays for your campaign, it is possible that you will decrease an income from Venmo, Zelle, PayPal, or via credit card under 1099-k categoryStewart said.
If payments exceed $ 5,000, a 1099 K tax model will be sent to the person who receives the campaign boxes, but this does not automatically mean a taxable income. It is better to consult a tax specialist to overcome details and understand your tax responsibilities.
If you donate to gofundme, is it tax exempt?
You should conduct research before donating to see if the collective financing page contains any tax information.
Some of GofundMe campaigns are published by non -profit organizations, which are usually detected on the campaign page, or you can search for non -profit exempt from taxes with The search tool in the Tax Authority. If you donate an institution registered as non -profit 501 (c) (3), you can get a file Explosion of taxi for your charitable contributions.
Stewart said that if you offer a donation to an individual or family, the way you will give her money to a friend or family member is considered a personal gift.
How does gofundme help La Wildfire victims?
Karanza is just one of the many individuals who use a group financing platform to help those who were displaced by fires. By expanding his hand to Altadena residents, he and his colleagues learned his organizers about the other people in need. Many of the displaced, without technical access or English -speaking capacity, did not have their GoFundMe campaigns.
For example, Karanza faced a woman living in a borrowed car with three cats. The fires destroyed her home, workplace and car.
“Sometimes people need help, but they are not always ready to request this,” said Karansza. “Just appear as you can.”
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