Shark Tank's Barbara Corcoran creates GoFundMe for Pacific Palisades mobile home park
Corcoran Group founder and "Shark Tank" star Barbara Corcoran established a GoFundMe fundraiser to help the residents of the Pacific Palisades mobile home park she called her "little slice of heaven" that was impacted by the California wildfires.
The "beloved" Tahitian Terrace Mobile Home Park, where she and others owned homes, was "entirely destroyed when the devastating Palisades Fire rapidly moved through the park on Tuesday," Corcoran said Thursday on social media.
Her fundraiser on the GoFundMe platform had raised $117,364 as of 3 p.m. Eastern on Friday, according to its page. It has a stated goal of $600,000.
Corcoran said Friday in a statement to FOX Business that she is "absolutely heartbroken about the mass devastation throughout Los Angeles."
"Pacific Palisades and the Tahitian Terrace community in particular is a little slice of heaven," she said. "I was lucky enough to have a home in the community for the past five years, and making lasting friendships with some of the kindest, most selfless, and genuine people I’ve ever met. Many of the residents, most of them elderly, had built their lives here over many decades and planned to live out their retirement here. They’ve lost absolutely everything."
Corcoran said she has donated $100,000 of her own funds to the GoFundMe.
The money raised by her GoFundMe fundraiser will help Tahitian Terrace Mobile Home Park residents with "immediate essentials like food, clothing, and shelter as they take the first steps towards rebuilding their lives," according to the GoFundMe page.
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Corcoran told FOX Business she was "working with the HOA to address the immediate needs of the displaced residents."
The Palisades Fire that hit the mobile home park began Tuesday and has blazed through over 20,400 acres in the Los Angeles area as of Friday afternoon, according to CalFire. The flames, which are 8% contained, have razed over 5,000 structures.
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Southern California is also contending with at least four other fires – the Eaton Fire, Kenneth Fire, Hurst Fire and Lidia Fire.
Combined, the five fires have impacted nearly 36,300 acres as of Friday afternoon. At least 10 people in the Los Angeles area have died.