Newport Beach organization supporting survivors of Eaton and Palisades fire to host benefit concert Saturday
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A pair of Newport Beach moms put together a benefit show happening Saturday at the Balboa Pavilion as part of a homegrown effort to keep support flowing to victims of the January Eaton and Palisades fires.
Marmar Salimian Sikka lived in Pasadena for about eight years before moving to Newport Beach. She felt compelled to help her former neighbors and others impacted by the disasters, so she coordinated with a friend in L.A. County to organize a supply drive.
Sikka hoped to gather at least enough goods to pack an SUV once or twice. But members of the Newport Beach community overwhelmed her expectations, requiring organizers to rent a U-Haul truck on Jan. 20 to deliver all of the donations left at her home over just a three-day period.
“People I didn’t even know just kept coming by my house and leaving stuff in front of my garage and at the door,” Sikka said. “And some of those items were brand-new items. Some of the bags were filled with hundreds of dollars of gift cards also. It wasn’t just clothes and shoes and toiletries. The generosity in the community coming together to help was really beautiful.”
She branded the network of donors and supporters that coalesced around her cause she championed The Grassroots Project, and it continues to provide support for families who survived the devastating blazes.
This is the first time Sikka has ever coordinated a relief effort, she said, so when she got the idea to put on a benefit concert, she reached out to Lorie Swatsek, a fellow Newport Beach resident and founder of OC Media and Events.
Proceeds from the concert they’re putting on at the Harborside Restaurant and Grand Ballroom inside the historic Balboa Pavillion will go to the L.A. County-based Soul Points Fund. It’s another organization that sprang up to meet the needs of fire victims.
“There’s been a lot of support up until this point, and I feel like since the news cycle has moved on the momentum is starting to shift,” Soul Points Fund representative Lauren Moyer said. “And so it’s been really nice to see people still coming out and really wanting to help, and continuing on this journey that will be a marathon.”
Tickets for Saturday’s benefit concert are $50 for adults and $25 for kids. Attendees will enjoy food and a pristine views of Newport Harbor from a second-floor banquet room. There will be performances by The Finz, a three-piece band made up of Corona del Mar High students who have been playing surf rock, classic rock and pop punk staples at local venues, as well as ’80s themed cover band Flashback Heart Attack.
Families affected by the Eaton and Palisades fires, including some who have relocated to Orange County, will be in attendance. The concert will give them a chance to mingle face to face with people who have stepped up for them during their time of need. It will also offer a moment to unwind as they navigate the uncertainty of starting over after losing practically everything they owned.
There will be an ongoing need for support as fire survivors try to get by while waiting for disaster relief from the government. Sikka is determined to continue and further develop the Grassroots Project so long as people need help rebuilding their lives.
“My family, I saw them have to rebuild over and over and over again,” said Sikka, a political refugee who fled Iran at the age of 5 with her mother and grandmother in 1979. “And I think I’ve also had to do that many times in my life. And so it really makes me happy to help people; that’s what fills my heart.”
To purchase tickets, become a sponsor, or make a donation, visit https://app.betterunite.com/newportrocksforlamarch8th.
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