
Sidney Price looked at the smoky, orange sky from the wildfires raging nearby and knew she had to help. The Long Beach, California resident began offering free meals for those affected by the Los Angeles-area wildfires at her allergy-friendly Noble Rotisserie locations.
“We are trying to give these families a small moment of normalcy in this utterly chaotic and devastating time,” Price tells Allergic Living. Officials say that tens of thousands of residents in Los Angeles County remained under evacuation orders as of January 16.
The Noble Rotisserie kitchen is free of dairy, peanuts, tree nuts, fish and shellfish, and also offers gluten-free and vegan menu items. The restaurant is well-equipped to handle most allergens at a moment’s notice, Price says.
The series of wildfires began scorching southern California on January 7. The fires have brought devastation to the greater Los Angeles area, destroying more than 12,300 structures (including homes and apartments) and killing at least 27 people.
The Palisades fire is the largest, but firefighters are continuing to battle several blazes as powerful winds threaten more damage.
Members of the food allergy community, like Price, have stepped up to help California residents in need of allergy-safe food and medications, as the Los Angeles wildfires continue to burn. Read on for resources for those in need – and to learn how to donate to help provide safe food.
Amid LA Wildfires, Allergy-Friendly Meals
Those navigating life with food allergies empathize with families who have either lost homes or been evacuated. They appreciate that in such an emergency situation, it can be difficult to locate allergy-friendly or gluten-free food.
Price understands the importance of preparing allergy-friendly food, “with the safety and care that families like ours need,” she says. Price and her husband Steve have two children, both of whom have food allergies.
In Long Beach, “we live far enough away that we are safe. But it’s such an unsettling feeling knowing how close this is to us,” she says.
Families are dining at Noble Rotisserie as they find temporary homes in Long Beach after evacuating from the fires, Price says. Since being included in an allergy-friendly resource list, Noble has seen an uptick of food-allergic families seeking meals.
They average three or four such parties a day. Most have six to eight people in the party because extended families are evacuating together. Some customers told her that they specifically chose Long Beach as their temporary landing spot because they knew they could count on Noble Rotisserie to feed their food-allergic children.
“We’re giving out warm meals and big hugs to anybody who needs them,” Price says.
Wildfires Present a Food Challenge
Los Angeles resident Sarah Danna, 23, is thankful that the apartment she shares with her sister is not directly threatened by the wildfires.
However, the emergency situation made Danna think about what evacuating would mean for her, since she has multiple food allergies. The content creator known as Sarah and Spices now has a bag packed in case of emergency. It includes a spare pack of epinephrine auto-injectors, antihistamines and allergy-friendly snacks.
But Danna knows she would have to figure out where to find allergy-friendly food, and wonders whether she would have access to a kitchen, and for how long. Eating donated hot meals without first seeing ingredient labels would be too risky, she notes.
“There’s so much to think about on top of getting away from the fires,” she says.
Food allergy mom Jeana Zirlin of San Diego feels for the displaced families. The health activist, known as Be Well Warrior, has an 8-year-old son with food allergies. Thinking of the food allergy families in need is “tugging at my heartstrings so much,” Zirlin tells Allergic Living. She got busy to help her neighbors to the north in LA, so they can locate allergy-safe food.
App, Brands Help with Allergy-Safe Food
Zirlin, who’s an ambassador for the Spokin, reached out to the allergy app to see how to work with the allergy-friendly food brands that Spokin is connected with. Spokin’s Instagram page has become a hub to learn about allergy-friendly resources during the wildfires.
Zirlin is coordinating efforts with Spokin and Securing Safe Food, a nonprofit that ensures allergy-friendly foods are at food pantries. The aim is to get allergy-friendly food donations and deliver them to LA food pantries.
Danna reached out on her Instagram page to see what she could do as well. She connected with one family, and dropped off allergy-friendly packaged food for them. She is also helping Spokin share information about which allergy-friendly companies are donating food and where those evacuated can find it.
“It’s amazing to see so many allergy-friendly brands trying to help in whatever way they can,” Danna says.
LA Wildfires: Allergy-Friendly Resources
Following are resources and where to donate to help those who had to evacuate.
- Food Pantry Donations: Nonperishable and shelf-stable food can be dropped off or shipped to these pantries:
a. All Peoples Community Center (open to the Los Angeles community). Located at 822 E. 20th Street, Los Angeles, CA 90011. Attention: Capri Downs.
b. Children’s Hospital Los Angeles Gores Family Allergy Center (open to clinic patients). Located at 4650 Sunset Blvd., MS #75, Los Angeles, CA 90027. Attention: Tina Lu or Dr. Jonathan Tam.
Requested items include: nut-free spreads (sunflower butter), gluten-free cereals, crackers, granola and pasta; canned goods (dried beans or quinoa); and plant-based milk. - Securing Safe Food and FARE (Food Allergy Research & Education): The nonprofits partnered with organizations to create Amazon wish lists for donations. The organizations include: All Peoples Community Center, their wish list; Children’s Hospital L.A., their wish list; LA Feast, their wish list; and LA SevaSphere, their wish list.
Donate at Securing Safe Food to fund allergy-friendly food for Los Angeles Food Pantries. - FOODiversity: FOODiversity has identified a need for allergen-friendly and gluten-free products in the Los Angeles area. Visit the Amazon wish list to help.
- Kaléo: The Auvi-Q maker has donated epinephrine auto-injectors to Direct Relief, which is distributing medications to areas of need.
- Fonuts is collecting gluten-free food donations at their WEHO location.
- Bread SRSLY is offering to send any families that have been displaced a care package of their gluten-free sourdough.
- Modern Bread and Bagel is offering gluten-free pastry and sandwich boxes to evacuees and first responders. If you’re not in LA but want to help, you can sponsor a box.
- Noble Rotisserie is offering free meals at the Long Beach and Culver City locations for food allergy families affected. Their dishes are free from milk, peanuts, tree nuts, fish and shellfish. Email [email protected] to discuss menu options. To donate a meal for $20, visit the website.
- Spokin Donation Center: For Saturday, January 18, the Spokin app organized a one-day donation center with allergy-friendly products at the Garry Marshall Theatre in Burbank. Non-perishable, allergy-friendly, and celiac-safe food products were available. Many brands generously donated.
Food items included: Sweet Lorens (breakfast biscuits), Pulse Power Snacks (nut-free spreads), Lorissa’s Kitchen (meat sticks), Blake’s, (protein bars), Every Body Eat (crackers), Partake Foods (cookies), Red Plate Foods (granola and cookies), Gluten Free Bagel (bagel chips), The Good Crisp Company, (chips), Whoa Dough (oatmeal bars), Lattini, (plant-based milk), and free 2b foods (crunchy mung beans).
Related Reading:
Emergency Planning With Allergies, Asthma and Celiac Disease