How the Bixby Knolls community became the epicenter in Long Beach’s relief efforts

In an entirely grassroots undertaking, Bixby Knolls has become Long Beach’s epicenter as the county unites in relief efforts. In an effort led by Bixby Knolls godfather and advocate Blair Cohn, small business owner Shawn Moore, and the efforts of restaurants across the city, the Knolls has become a space daily collecting everything from warm meals and masks to hygiene products and blankets to be distributed at key points across the county.

And the story of how it all began was Shawn unilaterally taking it upon himself to deliver meals on Tuesday night to a battered crew of firefighters in the Palisades.

The selflessness of Shawn Moore led to the all-hands-in efforts that made Bixby Knolls the epicenter of relief efforts in Long Beach.

When Shawn Moore—longshoreman, restaurateur, owner of the Long Beach Clothing Company, all-around amazing human—arrived home after taking a trek toward Pacific Palisades this past Tuesday, he arrived home not quite himself. Covered in ash, exhausted, and “different in body language,” as his wife Cynthia would describe it.

“Honestly, I had helped Manny and Martin [Luzanilla] open Mexihana’s and they were the first to come to mind to help me get food up there,” Shawn said. “I was the only one to access Station 23 [in Santa Monica] and, to be honest, when I arrived, I was overwhelmed.”

The scenery was brutal—with pictures that Shawn himself will never share—and he realized he wouldn’t be able to cover the ground he wanted. Instead, he was sharing the ground with those on it and, some 85 meals later, layered in soot and smoke, returned to a wife who was genuinely concerned about her husband doing this alone.

“That’s when I received a call,” said Blair. “Cynthia was rightfully concerned and wanted her husband to have help; she was bummed. ‘Can we rally everyone?’ she asked. What else could I say besides ‘Let’s make it happen’? Five days later, we are firing on all cylinders, working at a capacity and efficiency that sometimes shocks us.”

It might be cheesy but it’s real: Teamwork makes the dream work.

Cynthia did exactly what Shawn would have never done: She called on her community to help her husband’s efforts—and ultimately, it was the silver-lining in a very hazy, if not outright smoke-ridden situation.

“I always preach that if you’re only as good as your team, so ultimately, it was indeed a good thing,” Shawn said. “But I am also very much a person that tries to keep that sentiment to myself. Y’know, lay low: I don’t wanna bother people while they’re grieving—and because of my wife, this team came in and, there’s no other way to say it, it was just freaking unbelievable. Everybody stepped up in a way that you just couldn’t believe.”

Repeating Blair’s sentiment: By night two, an entire, massively impressive orchestration begins daily at 9AM. Baby food, adult diapers, pet food, feminine hygiene products, blankets, and, of course, warm meals, began lining the halls of the EXPO Arts Center in Bixby Knolls. Their destination? To evacuees and first responders across the county who need them.

“20 trucks have taken off from the EXPO center loaded with items to Palisades, L.A., Pasadena, Altadena…”Blair said. “And yesterday, we had two Amazon trucks come and take the items.”

Long Beach restaurants in Bixby Knolls and beyond begin to step in to help with relief efforts.

“The meals Shawn first took went quick,” Blair said. “Come day number two, we knew we had to better organize so we sent an email to our restaurant list: ‘Shawn is leaving at 7PM and we need meals.'”

Soon Lola’s Mexican Cuisine showed up. Then Rasselbock. Then Thunderbolt. And then, a pile: Patricia’s. Taboon. Bixby Joe. Tony’s Kitchen. Hangry Belly. Sushi Nikkei. Dutch’s Brewhouse. EJs Pub. I Luv UR Buns. Steelhead Coffee. Pop N Flavors. All Bixby Knolls staples. But then, help from the outside, thanks to a suggestion from the Long Beach Restaurant Association.

“Luis [Navarro from Lola’s] was really the conduit for all of us on the restaurant side,” said Lisa West, executive director for the association, who met Blair the very night Shawn first returned home at the LBRA’s general meeting. “Then this all blew up, especially after Blair got that call from Shawn’s wife.”

Blew up indeed: More restaurants wanted to help, like The 908 who donated meals. And Baja Sonora. Then the The Attic. And… The result? Hundreds of warm meals accompanying supplies that are heading toward shelters, command centers, and front lines.

Others—including Robb Smith of Alley Cat Deliveries and Duke Givens—have made the operation smooth out.

Others who have been essential in the Bixby Knolls relief efforts? Robb Smith of Alley Cat Deliveries and Duke Givens, the local photographer and all-around Long Beach cheerleader.

For those who haven’t heard Robb’s story, he has spent the past several days with the relief effort. Beginning on day one, he started off with offering evacuations to those who needed and has now shifted to multiple deliveres each days, from general supplies to fire extinguishers to those trying to salvage what they can amongst the ashes and embers.

Duke Givens has also been using his own trucky, coming nearly daily to pick up supplies from the EXPO and deliver them across the county.

In the end, Bixby Knolls and its relief efforts are just a refraction of what we should be doing all the time.

In the wake of the tragedies surrounding us, people are rightfully wanting to step up. It could be through donations. It could be through manpower. And in the words of Luis, this “is a marathon—not a sprint. Because this will go into weeks and very likely months, if not longer.”

For Shawn, this comes with a massive caveat as those with good intentions want to step in: Be mindful.

“I know this this happened and we’re gonna do everything that we can to help the responders… But be mindful: there are people in need every day. And we need to step it up as a community, as Californians, fix these problems and help people. Don’t don’t shy away from getting out of your comfort zone. It’s okay to give somebody some assistance.”