Hi, I’m Barb and I live in Illinois. My friend Duke and his pup Olive lived in Altadena, California. But the two of them found their lives turned upside down when the Eaton Fire tore through their home. They lost everything.

The money raised by my fundraiser will go toward helping Duke and his pup, Olive, rebuild their lives. With the expected increases in building from a massive supply and demand imbalance, as well as increased tariffs, insurance won't be able to cover everything. Duke's mediocre insurance coverage is far less than private insurance coverage, even though he pays more in premiums. And after the fire, people will have to pay more for insurance.

The costs of living and construction are expensive in California and Duke is spending away his savings paying for his hotel room. It costs him $1,000 a week to stay there, but they will take his dog so he stays there for now. Waiting for new construction will take a long time with multitudes of homes in demand, and those thousands will add up quickly.

I live in Illinois and the convenience of the internet brought me many new friends all over the country. I first met Duke in an online chat room in 1995. He is a very intelligent, kind and compassionate person. He is quite knowledgeable and always helped others, answering their questions and finding information for them.

Eventually, people wearied of the chat room scene and three of us began an ongoing e-mail exchange, sharing stories about humorous things, animals, news, and each other's lives...

And then the Los Angeles fires happened… All mayhem broke loose.

I’ll let Duke’s pup Olive tell their harrowing story from her perspective… .

YapYapYap Arf Arf Arf YapYapYap!!! Is this GoFeedMe?

My name is Olive, an almost 17 year old All American dog and me and my human need your help to recover and rebuild from losing our Altadena home in the Eaton Fire.

Life was hard even before the fire. I used to live in a happy home with my Mom, Janet Castro, who rescued dogs and cats. I was her favorite, of course. But in 2023, Janet was diagnosed with cancer and despite fighting bravely with me by her side every step of the way, she passed away in January 2024.

Janet always looked out for the welfare of others and wanted me to be safe and secure in Altadena where she rescued me and where I lived my entire life. So she relayed her wish to her friend and neighbor, Duke, to take care of her golden child, me, after she was gone.

My world was torn apart, having to go to a new home at 16 years old. Duke was nice to me and took me for daily walks but I missed Janet terribly. I would hide under the covers all the time. If I whimpered Duke would pat me over the covers to let me know I would be ok. He told me he lost both his cat and his father a few years ago and knew how I felt about being alone in the world and how we would look out for each other now.

Gradually with time I learned to enjoy going to the park daily and sampling the various treats brought by dog people. And my yapping strengthened bonds between my canine compatriots. Everyone knew when I was in the park. Call of the pack!

Life was getting better and then January 7 happened.

I was sleeping at 1:30 AM that night when Duke pulled the covers off me and said we had to leave now. Are you kidding? A 16 year old All American needs her beauty sleep. Duke was serious and put on my harness and we ventured out into the pitch black night with hurricane winds blowing and the smell of smoke everywhere.

We walked a quarter mile to the park to wait for a ride but there was no shelter from the winds and I just wanted to go home. What were we doing here in the middle of the night?

After an hour, glowing embers started to rain into the park and Duke said we can't stay here but I was scared and I will admit I didn't want to cooperate because I like to get my own way. So Duke scooped me up like a baby (I'm not a baby, I'm a big girl and I will kick if you treat me like a baby!) and we were off again going farther away from home.

I didn't know what was going on but I knew it was bad. After walking a mile, avoiding obstacles in the darkness, a Sheriff's Deputy stopped and offered to take us out of the fire zone. He must have remembered the long partnership between dogs and law enforcement to give us a lending paw.

We made it to Colorado Blvd in Pasadena, and the Deputy had to go back to evacuate others in Altadena.

Walking again through unfamiliar territory we stopped in a hotel. I didn't know why we were here and I couldn't sleep. I watched Duke around the clock to make sure I wasn't left behind in case something happened.

It has been two months and another hotel. Duke says there is no more home, everything is gone including my stash of meaty snacks, and many rental places are not accepting dogs. With thousands and thousands newly displaced there aren't many affordable homes out there. Don't they know any place would be blessed by my presence?

I miss the park, I miss the treats, I miss my Mom.

Even with his own struggles, Duke welcomed me and I want to help us both out through GoFeedMe (do I have the name right or is it GoFundMe?) for recovery assistance from the Eaton Fire.

I know I haven't been the best behaved dog because the other dogs said I am known as a Little Sh!t. Maybe they confused me with a cat.

However I am doing my best like my human is and wish we can return to normal.

I am yapping out a call to the pack please help me and my human out .

Your kindness and generosity is appreciated. Duke said times are hard for a lot of us so if you can't donate, a prayer for all fire victims is just as welcome. It will be a long road ahead and we need to stay strong together.

Thank You and Yappy Wishes,

Olive the All American Altadenan