Fire Relief Boutique: A Story About Community

The group of New Roads School students responsible for running for the Fire Relief Boutique stand in just one of the areas of their boutique.New Roads School, with permission

On January 7, 2025, a fire broke out in the Santa Monica Mountains in the Pacific Palisades in Los Angeles, California. As strong dry winds blew across LA the fire spread quickly, forcing hundreds of families to flee their homes and leave everything behind.[1] Within a matter of days, six different wildfires were burning across LA, destroying entire communities in their paths. Twenty-four people lost their lives,[2] more than 150,000 people were placed under evacuation orders, and approximately 10,000 buildings and 40,0000 acres were destroyed.[3]

In response to the disaster, communities throughout LA rallied to protect and support each other through the tragedy. Fire Relief Boutique: A Story About Community, a short film directed by New Roads School senior Sage Starkovich, highlights the incredible efforts of a group of students at her school to collect and organize donations for those whose homes were destroyed. The film was awarded the Community Hero Award at the 2025 MY HERO International Film Festival.

The students set up a drive to collect donated clothes, toiletries, home goods, and baby items; providing essentials to anyone affected. They set up base at New Roads School and organized the donations to create a “free shopping experience,” for their community. They led over one hundred volunteers and received so many donations that they had to send a portion of them over to other donation centers.

New Roads School, with permissionVolunteers sort through the donations.

Starkovich has been making films since she was very young and began to take her passion more seriously once she enroled onto a film production class at New Roads School. She herself was one of the volunteers for the Fire Relief Boutique and wanted to use her talent as a filmmaker to celebrate the students’ work in creating the boutique. “I saw firsthand everything that the seniors who organized it did to make the whole thing possible,” she explained to MY HERO, “I wanted to share their story and everything they did to support those in need.”

It wasn’t just celebrating her fellow students’ efforts that was important to Starkovich but highlighting the importance of community. She shared with MY HERO

I think [the film] really shows how important community is. Everyone at New Roads fully showed up to support people both in our community and outside of it. The organizers of the relief boutique proved how much we can achieve when we all come together and contribute.

Accepting the award at a virtual ceremony on January 10th, Sage shared just how important it was to not only her, but her community to receive such recognition. 

I just want to say how amazed and grateful I am to be receiving this award. It's a dream come true. It's so special that this is the Community Hero Award because this film would not have been possible without my community. It is a film about community, about how my school came together to help the families affected by the fires last year. So this award goes out to my school, New Road School in Santa Monica, California, which is the most amazing group of students, teachers, and parents that I could have ever dreamed of being a part of. I learned firsthand how important and impactful community can be when everyone comes together to support each other. This award also goes out to the families affected by the Palisades and Eaton fires last year, especially with the one-year anniversary having been last week. You are always in our thoughts and in our hearts, and we are there for you.

Watch Fire Relief Boutique: A Story About Community here.

About the MY HERO International Film Festival

The MY HERO International Film Festival is an annual event dedicated to showcasing films that celebrate the power of the human spirit. The festival provides a platform for filmmakers to share inspirational stories of everyday heroes. Thanks to generous sponsors, prizes are awarded to elementary, middle school, high school, college and professionals in a variety of categories including documentary, narrative, music video, animation, experimental, and more.

The festival aims to inspire audiences to recognize the heroism in their own lives and encourage positive actions in their communities. Learn more.

[1] Aratani, Lauren. California wildfires: investigators explore possible link between New Year’s fireworks and Palisades blaze [Online] Available https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jan/13/palisades-california-wildfires-fireworks. 2025.

[2] Speck, Emilee & Yablonski, Steven. California wildfires: Death toll rises as Los Angeles area sees 'particularly dangerous' fire weather return [Online] Available https://www.foxweather.com/extreme-weather/california-wildfires-latest-los-angeles-death-toll. 2025.

[3] NBC News. How the wildfires engulfed the Los Angeles area: Fire & Ash - Part 1 [Online] Available https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vhgWNjRSmn4. 2025.