Celebrities and car brands hit the streets to help SoCal fire victims

LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- The journey to full recovery from the Southern California wildfires will be a long one, but help from far and wide continues to pour in.

Cedric the Entertainer, his own charitable foundation, and the Brotherhood Crusade teamed up to help Eaton Fire victims Friday with a basic need: getting around.

"These things that we kind of take for granted a lot of times, especially when you've lost everything, you're like 'How do I get from point A to point B?'," the comedian and actor said.

Nine families who suffered huge losses received free two-year leases of electric Fiats, in a partnership with the car brand. Each applicant got careful consideration.

Shane Liam and her family lost their Altadena house and everything in it.

"We had to find a place to live, and then we had to furnish it," Liam said. "We've also had to deal with FEMA, and the insurance company, and Red Cross."

Friday, Liam picked up the keys to her family's new Fiat 500e, which they'll get to use for two years and get credits for public charging each month.

Those little trips will now be easier for these people trying to rebuild. All the matching red Fiats were delivered at Glendale Fiat, after a group photo with company and dealership officials, plus Cedric the Entertainer beaming proudly in the center.

Fiat's parent company, Stellantis, has also donated $500,000 to help Southern California fire victims through its association with United Way.

It's been over a month and a half since the Palisades and Altadena communities were ripped apart by those fires. As the recovery continues, automakers are leveraging their stock-in-trade and teaming up to offer help with partners in the form of celebrities and charity organizations.

For example, actor Orlando Bloom is a brand ambassador for his favorite car, Porsche. He helped kick off an auction for a new Porsche 911 S/T. Very special, very rare, and pretty much sold out.

Porsche's North American arm stepped up and donated essentially the last one to help the American Red Cross, which they've partnered with in the past.

"And so when we saw all the things that were happening, we thought, 'How can we support? How can we put something from the Porsche side into this whole thing?'," said Porsche Cars North America president and CEO Timo Resch.

The online auction of that Porsche brought serious money from a generous bidder.

"Now $1 million will go to the Red Cross," Resch said.

As for Cedric the Entertainer, he says he's not done helping yet.

"And we still want to be able to give away a few more cars," he said.