Virginia charity partners with actor Steve Carell to send students affected by the LA wildfires to prom

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MT. VERNON, Va. - Hundreds of students in fire-ravaged Southern California aren’t just going to prom – they were told they’re going to prom by Hollywood megastar Steve Carell.

The backstory:

Alice’s Kids is a charity based in Mount Vernon. They provide anonymous assistance to kids across the country. So, if a teacher notices somebody needs shoes, they can send a request to Alice’s Kids, which then sends a gift card to help.

"We are in the background, no one knows about Alice’s Kids," said Executive Director Ron Fitzsimmons.

That is, until now. The charity received a request to send one student in Southern California to prom. Instead, Fitzsimmons decided to send about 800 students at six schools based in Altadena instead. The total cost is expected to come to about $175,000.

"I went to my board, and they said go for it," Fitzsimmons explained.

What Came Next:

"I was thinking prom tickets," Fitzsimmons recalled, "how do we make the announcement?"

And that’s what led him to longtime Alice’s Kids supporters Nancy and Steve Carrell.

"Emailed Nancy and I said, ‘would Steve do a video that could be played in all the assemblies?’"

Carrell happily obliged, with several of the announcements being captured on video and later posted online.

What they're saying:

"There was a point where it just didn’t seem like it was financially feasible for everyone to go," senior Em Arellano said of prom. She spoke to Fox 5 from her temporary high school, explaining that she and her classmates had been forced out of their actual campus because of the fires. "Obviously a lot of things have happened this year that just felt so unreal, like how is this happening? But I think this is one of the better things that’s come out of it."

What you can do:

If you’d like to donate to Alice’s Kids, you can go to the charity’s website and click the "donate" button in the top right corner.