Amgen, the Amgen Foundation, and Amgen employees gave more than $10 million to organizations focused on helping communities devastated by wildfires that hit Southern California in early 2025. Here’s how two individuals with Direct Relief, one of the recipients of that donation, helped on the first day.
Highway 101 edges along the coastline near the town of Goleta and, with the Santa Ana winds whipping in from the north, the choppy whitecaps were visible from Alycia Clark’s SUV headed south towards Pasadena, California.
She had packed hurriedly and with purpose. A few medical supplies in the back to distribute to those in need. A change of clothes in case she had to stay the night because returning home might prove impossible. A pair of sturdy shoes to walk over debris. She had changed into her Direct Relief shirt so she could be easily identified by first responders.
The scope of what was unfolding felt familiar. Almost exactly seven years ago, the house Clark grew up in—and the one still owned by her family—had been heavily damaged when the Thomas Fire swept through and killed two people in Santa Barbara and Ventura counties. A subsequent heavy rainstorm caused debris flows from the scorched hills which added almost two dozen fatalities. That one-two punch left more than 1,060 structures destroyed.
The Thomas Fire was the reason she now worked for Direct Relief, a nonprofit established more than 75 years ago that responds to natural disasters and humanitarian crises around the world.
She remembered that day in 2018, being in a grocery store parking lot waiting to be escorted to the site of the house by the sheriff’s department and allotted 20 minutes to recover any valuables. She recalled talking to someone wearing a Direct Relief badge just before heading to what remained of the house.
“I was working at a hospital as a pharmacist in San Diego at the time and I remember asking the person at Direct Relief what they did,” Clark said. “After they told me, I remember asking them if they needed a pharmacist. A few months later, I was working for them.”
Among high-profile and lesser-known disasters, the pharmacist has helped coordinate supplying medicines for those in need throughout her career at Direct Relief—whether it was refugees fleeing Ukraine or helping victims amid massive flooding caused by Hurricane Helene in North Carolina in 2024.
But the Southern California wildfires felt different. Personal. And when she rushed toward Los Angeles to help, those memories of seven years ago flared up and she thought about how she felt back then wondering who would help her. This time, she was on the side of providing aid instead of receiving relief—as was Amgen and the Amgen Foundation.
Amgen and the Amgen Foundation Jump In
The wildfires that hit Southern California in early 2025 were far enough away from Amgen’s Thousand Oaks, California headquarters to not pose a threat but were close enough that they did reach communities where some of the biotech’s employees live.
Scott Heimlich, president of the Amgen Foundation, convened the Foundation Board, which quickly set the wheels in motion to begin sending money to help nonprofits serve victims of the wildfires. Ultimately, Amgen and the Amgen Foundation committed $10 million in disaster relief. The money was spread to the California Community Foundation, the United Way of Greater Los Angeles and Direct Relief. In addition, through Amgen’s employee matching gifts program, a total of $150,000 dollars has been donated so far.
Donations like the one Amgen and the Amgen Foundation made go towards nonprofits and agencies such as Direct Relief to provide medicines, emergency supplies and items to help those affected to navigate their way through disasters. For those in need, it doesn’t bring their homes back or completely undo the devastation but can provide some help providing stability in a time of unrest, a move towards normalcy during abnormal times or even just an additional buffer from the rawness of the devastation. Amgen and the Amgen Foundation have also convened with other companies and stakeholders to explore collective responses to the recovery and relief efforts.
“These wildfires occurred in a place that so many of our colleagues and friends and loved ones call home,” Heimlich said. “As recovery and rebuilding continue, it's been great to see our employees continue to give generously to support those families and communities affected by the wildfires through the Foundation’s disaster relief matching gifts program." Heimlich said there is great care in deciding which organizations to partner with when giving out money and Direct Relief in particular has been a constant recipient of support from the Amgen Foundation for many years.
Just this month, Direct Relief received the 2025 Seoul Peace Prize, which recognizes individuals and organizations that make contributions to human welfare. It is awarded every two years and, since its inception in 1990, Direct Relief became the first U.S-based organization to receive the award.
“We’ve been proud to support Direct Relief for decades, whether with these devastating wildfires in southern California, or with the hurricanes, earthquakes and other natural disasters that have tragically damaged communities across the United States and the world,” he said. “Amgen is here to serve patients, and this humanitarian aid organization has shown us time and again how they truly step up in times of disaster to serve people affected by emergencies and poverty.”
Direct Relief Pharmacist Alycia Clark, left, consults with a medical provider at the Pasadena Convention Center amid the Southern California wildfires. Photo courtesy of Direct Relief
Overwhelming Scene
The freeways weren’t as congested as Clark had thought they would be, but smoke was filling the sky. When she exited the freeway in Pasadena, she saw broken tree limbs in the road. Debris was everywhere. Emergency vehicles were on the streets. Helicopters circled overhead through the haze.
Clark searched for a place to park so she could get her small batch of medical supplies to those who had already evacuated and were filling up the Pasadena Convention Center. She finally found a spot not far away and began to walk.
It looked awful. In her head, she already began to do the calculus of how much help was required.
“I saw the barricades and all the trucks and saw a mix of people who had evacuated and seemed aimless,” she said. “There were people with babies, elderly in wheelchairs. People with their pets—big dogs, little dogs. When I talked to staff about what was needed, they seemed overwhelmed.”
She had come with emergency backpacks, but the demand was going to outstrip what she could offer immediately.
Clark spoke with the medical director and began to compile a list of medications required and told him she would get the items shipped first thing in the morning.
“I remember he looked at me and said, ‘Is there any way you can get it to us today?’” Clark said.
Clark got Pacience Edwards from Direct Relief on the phone and asked if she could pack a vehicle with several large totes with key medical supplies in it. It was urgent, Clark said.
She said they required high blood pressure medicines, nebulizers, blood glucose testing materials and gastrointestinal medications.
Within hours, Edwards headed down from Santa Barbara County with several crates filled with key medicines.
Where She Had to Be
Edwards was new to Direct Relief. She had been hired just last year and the Southern California wildfires were the first on-scene disaster she’d responded to in her job as a pharmacist.
But by the time she had gotten on the freeway, a fire near Calabasas had been raging close to Highway 101 and she feared it might close. Determined to get the medications to Pasadena, she opted to take a longer detour that appeared less likely to be shut down.
In her car, she was listening to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department giving a press conference and update on the fires and how there may be a curfew put in place. It was late afternoon and Edwards worried it might get dark before she could make the delivery.
“As we kept getting closer and past the Hearst Fire, the phones started going off with warnings about evacuations,” she said. “I called Alycia to tell her where we were and to help guide us into the area. Now, I’m an anxious person and I want to follow the rules, so the idea of driving a car into an area that people are supposed to be leaving was nerve-wracking.”
But she also knew this is where she had to be.
Clark had let the police know she was coming and when she pulled up, she saw the police open the barricade to let her through and they began unloading in front of the convention center. The smell of smoke hit her immediately. With help from some first responders, they unloaded the crates and the supplies began to be distributed immediately.
“There was a patient who needed an inhaler and then one needed a nebulizer and within 10 minutes of us opening the tote up, the stuff was being taken,” Edwards said. “A nurse needed a glucometer and that was gone. They’d come and take the items and disappear with them. It felt good that we had brought things that were needed, but I also realized more was going to be needed soon.”
Pacience Edwards with Direct Relief helps deliver medicines and emergency items to victims of the wildfires. Photo courtesy of Pacience Edwards.
Ongoing Support
The fires burned more than 50,000 acres over the course of more than two weeks and the UCLA Anderson Forecast estimates the disaster may have caused total property and capital losses that could be as high as $164 billion.
The Eaton and Palisades fires resulted in the deaths of more than two dozen people. The displaced are in the thousands with more than 15,000 structures destroyed.
More than 16,000 first responders worked the fires and, while they were contained within a few weeks, the fallout from the disaster will be felt for a long time, according to Annie Vu, U.S. emergency response lead at Direct Relief.
“Direct Relief continues to receive requests for medications, medical supplies, and personal care items—that’s still continuing,” Vu said. “We are working to support local organizations as the county moves into the recovery phase, and we are committed to building community resilience over the next months and years.”
Vu said, “the requests aren’t disappearing” and that it’s important to keep attention focused on the disasters long after the immediacy and glare of attention has faded from the dramatic scenes of chaos to the quiet needs of long-term care—including taking care of the mental health of people coming to grips with loss in the wake of the fires.
Clark knows that first-hand.
Seeing the Light
It had already been a 12-hour day for Clark and she had thought to try and stay in the area rather than drive a few hours back to Santa Barbara County that night. But she couldn’t find any place to stay and decided she’d make the drive back.
She thought a lot about what she did that day, but her mind also drifted back to 2017 and the Thomas Fire and the subsequent debris flow which affected her childhood home then.
And then it clicked when she saw the light beam in the distance.
“January 9 is the anniversary of the deadly debris flow after the Thomas Fire,” she said. “They shine a light in memory of those who lost their lives.”
She pulled into her driveway got out of her SUV. Her eyes still stung from the ash. Her body was tired. The light—a tall beam shooting into the sky—reminded her of her history. Where she once was—a person in need of help herself.
The next day, she’d be back at work on wildfire relief efforts. Helping others. Because that’s where she is now.
The work continues and will continue as long as there is a need.
The light beam commemorating those who died in the debris flow after the Thomas Fire that hit Santa Barbara and Ventura counties in late 2017 and early 2018. Photo courtesy of Alycia Clark.
