Hello, my name is Ahmad. I live in Altadena, California. Me and my family have been displaced from our home due to the Eaton Canyon wildfire that has left our city in ash and smoke.

I am asking for help because my family has run out of emergency funds to sustain ourselves, and we have no family or friends to go to for help. With me, I have my mom, my brother, my pregnant sister-in-law, and my two nieces and nephew.

The photo I used for this fundraiser was taken Tuesday evening in front of my home in Altadena before I evacuated. The fire has since made its way into my neighborhood and we are constantly under worry not knowing if our home has burnt down or not.

It has been expensive managing the cost of the essentials between the seven of us, and I can’t in good conscience go back to my home because there is no power, and the thick ash and smoke in the area put my nieces, nephew, and the baby their mother is pregnant with at severe risk.

I did everything I could to stretch what I had. I went as far as taking my family to the cheapest motel I could find and stayed in the car myself so that my family could be somewhat comfortable in the motel room. Unfortunately, the essentials have proven to be costly, and I find myself in this position asking for your help.

I feel ashamed that I have to ask, and honestly, this is a great burden for me. But if you are capable of helping me, I will forever be grateful to all of you for helping me provide and protect my family in the middle of a catastrophe.

I feel like we’ve lost everything. I’m not sure if all we have has gone into a fiery blaze or not, and even now, I have still not wrapped my head around everything that has happened to us in this short time.

If you decide to contribute and help me and my family, I promise to be responsible and use what we need towards our essential living needs, to take care of any other emergency costs during this time, and towards recuperating any losses incurred from this calamity.

Thank you so much for your time, consideration, and assistance.

- Ahmad