Volunteers help deliver food, supplies to LA fire victims, first responders

As thousands of firefighters continue to battle multiple fires across Los Angeles County, social media feeds are filling up with community resources for those looking volunteer time, donations or other forms of support to help displaced residents and first responders.

Approximately 92,000 people remain under mandatory evacuation orders with another 89,000 under evacuation warnings, due to intense Santa Ana winds fueling the flames that have scorched 40,000 acres and left at least 24 people dead. Severe fire conditions are expected to continue through Wednesday.

The fires -- which are only partially contained -- first broke out in the Pacific Palisades on Jan. 7, followed by multiple other infernos across LA county, which have decimated entire neighborhoods and sent people fleeing from their homes to safety.

Amid all the devastation and uncertainty, people in LA and across the country have stepped up to lend a hand individually and through organization-led efforts to deliver basic resources like food, water and clothing to fire evacuees.

The culinary community and restaurants outside the impacted fire areas have transformed their eateries into donation centers and community hubs where droves of volunteers have showed up around the clock to gather and distribute those in-demand necessities.

Humanitarian chef José Andrés instantly deployed relief efforts in Southern California last week via his nonprofit World Central Kitchen, mobilizing a network of restaurant and food truck partners within hours of the blazes to serve nourishing meals to first responders and evacuees with the help of hundreds of volunteers.

The nonprofit, which responds to natural disasters worldwide, has been inundated with both donations and offers to lend a helping hand on the ground.

There has been a robust response to deliver aid during this difficult time, including from celebrities like Jennifer Garner -- who has lived in the Pacific Palisades for over 20 years and spoke to NBC News about passing out meals with World Central Kitchen in Altadena -- to Good Samaritans and longtime residents alike.

Cameron Smith, an LA resident of 12 years who volunteered all weekend with World Central Kitchen, told "Good Morning America" the nonprofit is "delivering food to pretty much everyone who needs it."

"It's been nothing short of incredible seeing them mobilize and combine forces, sometimes even collaborating to deliver incredible meals to those in need," he said. "I've had the specific pleasure of delivering to frontline firefighters, as well as animal control workers who have been hard at work saving animals from the fires."

Smith added that "it's been absolutely incredible to see the restaurant community come together."

"Even restaurants in LA that have extremely sought-after reservations, like Felix Trattoria in Venice, are stepping up and committing to the cause," he said, referring to chef Evan Funke's famed Italian spot on Abbot Kinney Boulevard. "Everyone has been more than happy to help, even providing much more than initially outlined by WCK to ensure everyone is getting the meals they deserve."

On top of his and wife Nikki Smith's combined efforts with World Central Kitchen, the father-to-be told "GMA" he's been organizing virtual donations and pooling his efforts with local friends Nick and Karin Ruffini, coordinating Costco and Walmart shopping trips, purchasing highly requested relief items and filling up his Jeep Grand Cherokee to the brim with supplies.

With 200 private donations as of time of publication, Smith and his friends have worked directly with donation drop-off locations and used donated funds to purchase additional essential supplies such as baby diapers, wipes, new baby clothes, strollers, non-perishable food, flashlights, batteries, new blankets, toiletries, bottled water, and new socks and undergarments "for frontline workers and those directly affected by the fires."

"The volunteers' heartfelt gratitude and excitement upon receiving these much-needed supplies has been truly uplifting," Smith said of the continued efforts with YMCA and Baby2Baby locations around LA.

Just 50 miles south of Pacific Palisades in Huntington Beach, chef Andrew Gruel has transformed his popular seafood restaurant Calico Fish House into a community hub where those impacted have been able to get everything from free meals to air purifiers.

"Over the past three days, we've probably had over 300 volunteers and $200,000 worth of product donations," Gruel told "GMA." "This weekend was a full blown donation drive through here. We had traffic cones and volunteers helping repackage items that were being dropped at the restaurant, with pallets full of supplies."

Like so many, Gruel has helped coordinate donations, spreading the word for requests on social media to help support those in need with the help of his wife Lauren Gruel, who has also acted as a support to displaced families, hearing their stories and offering some moments of comfort.

"We've had probably 50 families come down here that have been affected by the fires to get a meal. Some of them for two days straight," Gruel said. "We're letting them pick up and take everything they need until they move to where they're going next."

With such demand in the impacted area, Gruel said one of his longtime farmer vendors in Bakersfield -- Santa Carota Beef -- "took his trailer out and brought us about 1,000 pounds of meat."

"He loaded it up with diapers and wipes too and drove eight hours there and back to help out," he said.

Without a forklift of his own to move the massive amounts of supplies, Gruel worked directly with the Dream Center Foundation in LA -- which has 1,700 rooms for people displaced since the fire evacuations began -- using its machinery to help do the heavy lifting and ultimately distribute the products.

"There are so many amazing stories in the midst of all this," Gruel said. "We're individually talking to these families and its really horrible, but then we had three giant Amazon trucks pull up full of donations, so I'm trying to stay positive."