Pali Spotlight: Student Organization Supports Fire-Recovery Efforts

By SOPHIA MASSERAT | Tideline Staff Writer

The Palisades Charter High School Tideline journalism class is coordinating the submission of a series of pieces the Palisadian-Post is publishing from the school’s periodical. A version of this piece originally appeared in Tideline.

In the wake of the vast wildfires that destroyed most of Pacific Palisades, students have been pitching in to bring their community back to life. A group of students have started their own initiative to help rebuild Palisades Charter High School—both as a school and as a home.

Juniors Alessandra Santini and Yasmine Santini, along with freshman Lily Yadegar, created PaliStrong2025, a project focused on restoring the Palisades community. This initiative launched on the second day of the fires, January 8, after the flames had began damaging some residential areas and Pali High structures.

Alessandra and Yadegar both recalled feeling shocked and heartbroken when they first learned that the fire had reached Pali High.

“I was watching the news reporters on TV, and I saw one of the ladies pass by our swimming pool on campus,” Alessandra said. “I was truly devastated and in shock.”

Although their homes were unaffected, the three students said they had to quickly evacuate to a hotel, witnessing online as many of their peers lost their homes and parts of their school’s campus burned down. In response to these losses, they decided to take action and start a GoFundMe to help Pali High rebuild.

“We weren’t going to just sit back and watch our community break apart,” Alessandra said. “Instead, we were looking for something to do remotely to help give back, and boost back the positivity and the support of our people.”

Beyond raising money to help rebuild Pali High’s infrastructure, the PaliStrong2025 founders also provided support to the community by organizing donation drives for those affected.

From January 19 to 21, PaliStrong2025 held donation pickup centers at Brentwood Gardens Plaza. The drives were open to anyone impacted by the fires, and provided essential resources, from food and water to clothing and hygiene items.

Alessandra said that the response from the drives was unexpected, with many people stopping by the location and donating their own items. In total, she estimated that the week of the drives resulted in 100 to 150 donations, which included contributions from students as well as Pali High teachers and former staff members.

“So many people came and donated—even from a small bag of clothes to three big trash bags of clothes and housewares and food—and it was just so beautiful to see our family come together,” Alessandra said.

A number of wellness brands, such as Mario Badescu and Glossier, also offered their support by donating products, with which the founders created free skincare packages for victims. In addition, nonprofit organization World Central Kitchen offered 100 free meals on the first day of the drive.

Yadegar believes that part of their growth can be credited to social media, explaining that promoting their initiative through Instagram allowed them to make more connections and reach a broader audience.

“The biggest support we received were all of the donations that we raised on the GoFundMe, not only from Pali families, but even from people that live across the country,” Alessandra added.

The success of PaliStrong2025, which has raised in excess of $23,000 at the time of publication, has been recognized by various news outlets, allowing its founders the opportunity to be featured on “Fox News,” “NBC News” and the “Today Show.”

According to Alessandra, the PaliStrong2025 founders were directly contacted by news anchors and publishers to be interviewed about their experiences as teenagers witnessing their school burn down.

“I honestly did not expect this kind of growth and success for PaliStrong2025 because initially, we started it as a mission to help our community,” she said. “Never would I have ever expected, let alone the fires to happen, but for us to gain such recognition, and we are so grateful for the many opportunities that we’ve had and we’ve been given.”

One of their most notable achievements was being interviewed by The New York Times, and having their story featured in an article that shared the experiences of 10 children and young adults who faced losses in the Los Angeles fires.

The founders have been planning several events, including a collaboration with the nonprofit organization HEARTbeats to host a charity concert at Whisky a Go Go, which took place on March 1. The concert fundraiser committed to donate 50% of proceeds toward rebuilding Pali High and offered free admission to all Pali students.

“We are beyond grateful for everyone who made the PaliStrong x HEARTbeats Concert such an unforgettable night,” PaliStrong2025 wrote on Instagram. “A huge thank you to HEARTbeats, whose generosity helped raise over $10,000 for PaliStrong, a student-led initiative dedicated to rebuilding Pali High after the devastating Palisades fire. Your support is making a real difference in restoring what was lost.

“To the artists, organizers and every single person who showed up, donated and poured their hearts into this cause—thank you. Your love and energy prove that music and community can create real change.”

Going forward, Alessandra, Yasmine and Yadegar are hopeful that their work will continue to aid in the complete restoration of the Palisades community that they, and so many others, consider a second home.

“My biggest hope is for PaliStrong to develop into an outlet and a resource for people to be inspired by the work communities can do if they unite together,” Alessandra said.

Despite the serious destruction that was caused by the fire, Pali High students have shown resilience and continue to inspire hope for the future with recovery efforts.

“I think this time isn’t only about helping those that were affected by the fire, but it really, really comes to show that we are so much stronger as a community,” Alessandra said. “It’s really been inspiring and so beautiful to see how during something so catastrophic, our community came together when we needed each other most.”

For more information, visit instagram.com/palistrong2025.