Josh Friday, California's chief service officer and head of California Volunteers, said the state has deployed members of the California Service Corps to help with shelter operations, food distribution and donation centers after this month's wildfires in the Los Angeles region.

"I was there on the first night of the fire, and serving 1,200 people, because of our, our service corps members helping out," Friday said during a Jan. 22 interview on KQED's Political Breakdown. He described volunteers staffing Red Cross shelters in Pasadena, assisting food banks serving tens of thousands of residents and staffing YMCA donation-distribution centers.

The deployment follows a larger statewide response that Friday said included Cal Fire, the National Guard and other agencies. "Governor Newsom from the state level has deployed an unprecedented number of resources," he said, adding that California is now focused on rebuilding.

Friday described a surge of volunteers and donations: university students, retirees and people coming before work to staff distribution centers. He said the service corps' infrastructure, expanded under Governor Gavin Newsom, has enabled the state to organize volunteers and quickly put them where they are needed.

To sustain relief and long-term recovery, California Volunteers launched a public campaign called "California Love, California Strong," asking Californians to help by volunteering, checking on neighbors, donating money through philanthropyca.org and sending appreciation to first responders and volunteers. "You can give in 4 different ways," Friday said, summarizing the campaign's approach to tapping time, direct donations, money and community support.

Friday also flagged combating misinformation as a priority when communicating with affected communities. "We're in a situation right now where we're seeing information misinformation come from, from other leaders, and and people from around the country," he said, calling for trusted, multilingual communication tied to local nonprofits and trusted messengers.

Asked about an upcoming visit to Los Angeles by President Trump, Friday said he would ask for continued federal-state partnership. "I would ask for continued partnership," he said, noting past cooperation between the governor and federal officials in prior disaster responses.

KQED hosts Marisa Lagos and Scott Schafer conducted the interview on Political Breakdown. Additional details about California Volunteers and its programs, including College Corps and Climate Corps, are available at californiavolunteers.ca.gov, Friday said.

Officials, nonprofit partners and the public continue to play roles in shelter operations, distribution logistics and community rebuilding; Friday said the effort will extend into the weeks and months ahead as officials work to ensure people receive federal assistance such as FEMA benefits and other services.

The interview emphasized coordination and trust-building rather than new regulatory or funding actions announced on air.