Charani Nakka pictured with Sacramento Fire Department and community leaders.
By Sophina Bustamante
Staff Writer | The Pacific Times
When wildfires tore through the Palisades area in January 2025, Charani Nakka, now a junior at NP3 High School, with the help of one of her best friends decided to take action.
Charani Nakka with California Senator Roger Niello and Hishanvi Komirishetty of Mira Loma.
The stories of those affected by the fires and her interests in community, health, and medicine inspired Nakka to get involved. She and her friend Hishanvi Komirishetty, not an NP3 student, began by partnering with Rebecca Amino, a supervisor at the American Red Cross, and raised $1,000 for relief support using an online giving campaign. In recognition of her service and contribution, Nakka was honored by the Sacramento Fire Department in April 2025.
The Palisade wildfires caused severe destruction to homes, took the lives of 27 people, and forced 100,000 residents to evacuate, according to LA County Recovers, the central hub for Los Angeles County’s post-disaster assistance, especially for wildfires, offering resources for housing, financial aid, rebuilding, and navigating government programs.
On January 31 after 24 days, the fires were finally contained, and many residents were left without a home and in urgent need of essential items like food, water, shelter, and clothing, according to the Los Angeles Fire Department in published media reports.
This is when Nakka’s fundraising efforts began. To reach her goal, Nakka took things one step at a time. She began by writing a message about the importance behind the cause, and shared it with friends, family, neighbors, and the NP3 community. Taking her fundraiser a step further, she spread her message through social media to find donors who were willing to help.
Charani Nakka meets with California Senator Angelique Ashby.
But Nakka’s work wasn’t without challenges. She explains that reaching out to others for contributions was the hardest part of her efforts, because many people “didn’t have empathy for those who needed it.”
Through persistence and support from her mom who helped Nakka plan, stay organized, and motivated her to continue, she was able to gather numerous donations and successfully met her fundraising goal.
“I felt relief for the community I helped in LA because I had some confirmation that at least some people were getting the help they needed since they were now able to gain relief and the healthcare they needed,” said Nakka.
Nakka said she will continue to raise money by leaving the donation page open to help those who were impacted. She is already working on other community service projects because of her interest in health and medicine.
Nakka said she believes that students and young people have a role in creating change.
“Being the younger generation, it’s really important for people to get involved because it teaches them the value of community and how everyone has a responsibility to preserve it no matter what,“ she said.
“By being empathetic toward others, we spread more love and ultimately that’s what the world is missing.”
To support wildfire relief efforts, people can consider donating through the link provided: https://americanredcross.donordrive.com/campaigns/ashestoaid.
Speak Your Mind
You must be logged in to post a comment.