A group of 10th graders from the Pacific Palisades are raising money to build back their community.
Mason Cohen, Jake Yoon, and Dylan Fullmer have been friends since kindergarten. Mason told KNX News their whole life was in the Pacific Palisades.
“And then when these fires happened, it was just honestly devastating,” he said. “We lost everything we grew up with.”
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Jake and his family lost their home and are staying in a hotel while he goes to school. Dylan said firefighters were able to save part of his family’s home.
“I did go back and, you know, with a police escort before the recent unlocking basically in the Palisades and it was weird, to say the least,” he said. “A lot of my neighborhood was just ash, and yeah, I got to go inside what was left of the house and grabbed whatever I could.”
The boys decided they wanted to help the community that played a role in their upbringing, so they created “Build Back Pali.”
According to its website, the goal is “restoring our community by supporting the rebuilding of homes, businesses, schools, and places of worship for a stronger future that our town deserves.”
“So [what] inspired us - like all the restaurants we went to growing up, all the events, our schools, just to try and help rebuild them as fast as possible - so the next generation, the next kids got the same great experience in the passage that we had,” Mason said.
Jake added it was important to help local businesses that supported them during their Little League years and their community.
“The Cafe Vida, the barbershop, but also these businesses that have been there for multiple years, maybe even before, like I was born,” he said. “For instance, I know Garden Cafe has donated a bunch to help these efforts. I know other businesses I can't exactly name off the top of my head right now that we want to help out first.”
The boys also want to offer advice and support to any of their peers who are having a hard time coping.
“I think just try and get back to normalcy as much as possible,” Mason said. “Stay in school, play your sport.”
“And also [know] that you’re not alone in this,” Jake chimed in. “There are other people like you and we could all come together and connect.”
“Yeah, I think remembering that there's other people with you and this is really important, and that there's a lot of places you can go to get help,” Dylan said.
The boys also set up a GoFundMe, which can be found HERE. As of Friday morning, they’ve raised $64,157.
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