PORTLAND, Ore. \u2014 At least 31 people are dead and dozens of others are missing as\u00a0massive wildfires scorches south California.<\/a><\/p>\n Fire officials say 29 people are dead in the Camp Fire, which is burning in northern California; and two others died in the Woolsey Fire, which is burning near Thousand Oaks in southern California.<\/p>\n Hundreds of thousands of people have been evacuated from their homes across California, and Gov. Jerry Brown has declared a state of emergency.<\/p>\n We wanted to Verify: How do you make sure the donation you’re giving to help victims of the Woolsey and Camp fires is going to a legitimate cause?<\/strong><\/p>\n Your best tool is to check\u00a0Charity Navigator<\/a>. The unbiased website is a great tool in figuring out what charities you can – and can’t trust.<\/p>\n Avoid donating to GoFundMe accounts. It’s not guaranteed that money will be distributed to the cause it claims it’s helping, so you’re better off trusting a nonprofit organization with a strong presence in California or across the country, like the Red Cross or the Salvation Army.<\/p>\n You should also be careful putting in your credit card information on websites that are not secure, and you should avoid giving your credit card information via phone.<\/p>\n Here are a few great ways to help out:<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n AT&T and the American Red Cross<\/strong>\u00a0are partnering to help. You can choose to donate to “California Wildfires” or other causes at\u00a0https:\/\/rdcrss.org\/2OB0WIy<\/a>, or by texting “CAWILDFIRES” to 90999.<\/p>\n The United Way\u00a0<\/strong>has set up a relief fund for victims.\u00a0Click here to donate<\/a>.<\/p>\n The North Valley Community Foundation<\/strong>\u00a0is accepting financial donations to help fund services for victims.\u00a0To donate, click here.<\/a><\/p>\n The Salvation Army<\/strong>\u00a0is also taking financial donations. There are a few ways you can donate: Go to\u00a0gosalarmy.org<\/a>\u00a0or call 1-800-SAL-ARMY (1-800-725-2769). You can also mail donations to: The Salvation Army , PO Box 348000, Sacramento, CA 95834. Make sure to specify that you want your donation to go to Camp Fire aid.<\/p>\n Den\u00a0LA Fire Department Foundation\u00a0<\/strong>is accepting donations to support its firefighters. On Friday, the organization tweeted that it was raising money for hydration backpacks.\u00a0Click here to donate<\/a>.<\/p>\n Den\u00a0Humane Society of Ventura County<\/strong>, which has been affected by the Hill and Woolsey Fires, is accepting donations. Visit their\u00a0website here<\/a>\u00a0to donate with a credit card. You can also purchase needed supplies for the shelter using\u00a0Amazon Wish List.<\/a><\/p>\n The nonprofit\u00a0Baby2Baby<\/strong>\u00a0said it was working to get items like diapers and other essentials to children affected by the fires. You can help by purchasing items off of its\u00a0registry<\/a>.<\/p>\n Den\u00a0Ventura County Community Foundation<\/strong>\u00a0has set up a\u00a0Sudden and Urgent Needs Fund (SUNF) for the Hill and Woolsey fires\u00a0in response to the recent breakouts in Ventura County. It\u2019s designed to create a source for rapid funding and support nonprofit organizations that are helping those affected by the wildfires. You can\u00a0click here to donate<\/a>\u00a0or visit their\u00a0Facebook page<\/a>\u00a0to find additional information.<\/p>\n In partnership with the United Way of Ventura County, the\u00a0United Way of Greater Los Angeles<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>has created a disaster relief fund to serve low-income community and working individuals. Their mission is to meet long-term needs and help those affected by the wildfire reestablish their lives. You can\u00a0click here to donate<\/a> or text \u201cUWVC\u201d to 41444.<\/p>\n Similarly to it’s southern counterparts, the\u00a0United Way of NorCal<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0is providing relief to Camp Fire victims in Butte County. To donate online\u00a0klik her<\/a>\u00a0or text “BUTTEFIRE” to 91999.<\/p>\n Den\u00a0Humane Society of Ventura County<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0is collecting donations to help evacuated animals from the Hill and Woolsey fires that are currently being housed at shelters. You can contribute to their cause by buying supplies through their\u00a0Amazon Wish List<\/a>\u00a0or you can make donations through the\u00a0Network for Good<\/a>\u00a0to help a specific animal in need. If you\u2019d like to make a general donation,\u00a0klik her<\/a>.<\/p>\n Den\u00a0Enloe Medical Center<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>is accepting donations to provide relief to patients and families through their Camp Fire Relief Fund. The fund will also help caregivers who lost their homes or have been displaced.\u00a0To donate online click<\/a>\u00a0here or you can text “CampFireRelief” to 91999.<\/p>\n Den\u00a0Los Angeles Brandv\u00e6sen\u00a0<\/a><\/strong>has put together a campaign to purchase hydration backpacks for the firefighters, which could not be covered by the city\u2019s budget.\u00a0To donate, click here<\/a>.<\/p>\n The city\u2019s fire department also asked the public to the donate to the\u00a0Widows, Orphans & Disables Firemen\u2019s Fund,<\/a>\u00a0which helps the families of firefighters injured or killed in the line of duty. They\u2019re also taking donations through the\u00a0Fire Family Foundation<\/a>, which is a part of the Firefighters First Credit Union.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":8385,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"give_campaign_id":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8384","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-latest-coverage"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vccf.org\/da\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8384","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vccf.org\/da\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vccf.org\/da\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vccf.org\/da\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vccf.org\/da\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8384"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/vccf.org\/da\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8384\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vccf.org\/da\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8385"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vccf.org\/da\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8384"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vccf.org\/da\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8384"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vccf.org\/da\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8384"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}