An unexpected outpouring of support for fire victims has turned the Rose Bowl into a massive donation site in Pasadena.
It started as a TikTok personality’s hot dog stand Tuesday night but by Thursday there were many more vendors and hundreds, if not thousands, of volunteers helping @rocknrollfoodie in the Rose Bowl parking lot.
“We came out here planning on feeding the survivors and victims of the fire and came out here with two hot dog carts. Five hundred hot dogs, that was our plan for the day and it turned into something even bigger,” food enthusiast Juan aka rocknrollfoodie told KTLA’s Sandra Mitchell.
Juan said his TikTok supporters shared his livestream and more than a million people were eventually watching. “It became an official donation site and it wouldn’t be possible without the power of social media,” he said.
Soon, people were showing up to drop off all kinds of items including clothes, diapers, formula, hot food and water. “Pretty much anything that you can think of to use in this time right now, we have it,” Juan said.
During Mitchell’s report a semi-truck trailer could be seen unloading more supplies as cars were driving up with cases of water and other donations.
“It makes my heart so happy just to see that there’s a lot of great souls left here and it makes me happy to see people come together and help the community,” Juan said.
He added that anyone is invited to come out the Rose Bowl if they are in need of something or have something to share.
