PITTSBURGH--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct 16, 2026--
In recognition of National Childhood Hunger Awareness Day and World Food Day, Liberty Tire Recycling announced that its employees, business partners and supporters raised $195,000 in 2026 for Blessings in a Backpack. Blessings in a Backpack is a national nonprofit that provides weekend food to school-aged children who might otherwise go hungry.
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This is the third year of Liberty’s partnership with Blessings in a Backpack. The funds were raised through the Liberty Cares Charity Golf Tournament and partner contributions.
“In three years, we have raised over $400,000 and packed more than 16,000 food packs for kids in need. This is only possible with the employees at Liberty giving their time and effort to this project, and customers and partners committing their time and resources," said Thomas Womble, CEO of Liberty Tire Recycling. "Thank you to everyone who made this possible—I am proud to be part of this team.”
The partnership started because of what employees told Liberty—when asked what mattered most, they said they wanted to support a cause that helps children and fights hunger. Blessings in a Backpack does both.
Employees at five Liberty locations will also pack food packs of weekend meals at events in late October: Santa Fe Springs, CA, Midlothian, TX, Minerva, OH, Jackson, GA, and Portland, OR.
Together, these teams will pack 6,500 bags of weekend meals for local Blessings in a Backpack programs.
"Thanks to the generosity of Liberty, their leadership, customers, and employees as well as the outings’ donors and sponsors, over $195,000 was raised this year to benefit the mission and work of Blessings in a Backpack. We couldn’t be more grateful to the entire Liberty community for the care, compassion, and kindness provided year after year to support children in need of our services. Thank you from the bottom of our backpacks!” said Alexis Hartman, Manager of Corporate Partnerships, Midwest, at Blessings in a Backpack.
Employees across the company are also taking part in a notecard activity. They will write and color notes of encouragement to go into the bags that students take home. This gives every Liberty location a way to take part, including sites that aren’t hosting a packing event.
Liberty raised $87,805 in the first year of the partnership in 2024 and $132,785 in 2025. Over three years, Liberty has now raised over $415,000 for Blessings in a Backpack.
About Blessings in a Backpack
Blessings in a Backpack brings together communities, individuals and resources to provide weekend food for school-aged children across America who might otherwise go hungry. Its vision is that every child in America has the nourishment needed to learn and grow. Since 2008, it has served more than 1 million children and provided more than 30 million hunger-free weekends. To learn more, visit www.blessingsinabackpack.org.
About Liberty Tire Recycling
Liberty is committed to partnering with industry leaders to help inspire a more sustainable planet. Liberty is continuously striving to find new and better ways to reclaim, recycle, reuse, and repurpose the end-of-life tires it collects. As the market leader in tire recycling management in North America, diverting more than 4.8 billion pounds of rubber from landfills each year, Liberty's passion is to make the world a better place to live for generations to come by boldly changing the way the industry approaches sustainability. Learn more at www.libertytire.com.
Liberty employees write notes for student donations in Prineville, Oregon, as part of the Blessings in a Backpack giving campaign.
SANTA ANA, Calif. (AP) — A fast-moving fire fueled by high winds burned at least six homes in Southern California on Friday, engulfing expensive coastal properties and prompting thousands to evacuate.
Black smoke — visible from miles away — billowed over tennis courts and swimming pools while firefighters doused blazing homes in San Juan Capistrano in Orange County. Some homeowners sprayed water on their properties before heeding evacuation orders.
Two firefighters were taken to the hospital with heat-related injuries, officials said. Authorities have not said how the blaze, which was less than a square mile as of Friday evening, started.
“Had these winds been a little bit stronger, a little bit different direction, this could have been a whole lot worse," said San Clemente Mayor Rick Loeffler.
Howard Hart, a councilmember for San Juan Capistrano, said he and his wife doused their roof with water and moved propane tanks away from their home before they evacuated Friday with a to-go bag.
Laura Hart hasn’t had to evacuate due to fire in the more than five decades she’s lived in the community, she said.
“This doesn’t usually happen to us, we usually see it on the news,” she said. “We always pray to God it’s not us, but yeah, it was today.”
The Norte fire started in the coastal city of San Clemente, and wind drove it into San Juan Capistrano. An evacuation shelter has opened in each city. By Friday night, about 16,000 residents had been ordered to evacuate, said Fire Chief TJ McGovern, of the Orange County Fire Authority.
It was one of several fires in the region hit by dry, warm gusts known as Santa Anas, which blow from the interior and toward the coast. The strongest winds were expected through Friday afternoon, but conditions that increase the fire risk were expected to last through Saturday night, with a heat advisory in effect until 8 p.m. Saturday on the Orange County and San Diego County coast, the National Weather Service said.
Tens of thousands of people in the state are without power after their electricity was turned off. A separate fire by the Marine Corps base Camp Pendleton shut down for hours a section of Interstate 5 that is a major artery connecting Orange County to San Diego. That added hours to commutes throughout Southern California.
The coastal cities are surrounded by hillsides. San Juan Capistrano, a city of 35,000, is known for horse trails and the historic Mission San Juan Capistrano. San Clemente, which is home to 62,000 people, is known as a “Spanish village by the sea” and popular with beachgoers and surfers.
“The fire is right up on the city,” said Victor Cabral, a San Clemente Council member. “It’s on the perimeter of our homes on the north end.”
Nine schools were also closed Friday in San Juan Capistrano, the Capistrano Unified School District said.
Nearby residents were also on edge as smoke darkened the sky.
Wyoming resident Shannon Needham was visiting her mother at her assisted living facility in Dana Point just north of San Clemente when she learned about the fire.
The facility director told her that two buses would be on standby in case they needed to evacuate, Needham said.
“You could hear the fire trucks, you could hear the helicopters and everything above. And it was so smoky, it was just dark smoke," Needham said.
Some of California’s worst wildfires have been sparked by power equipment, and utilities in recent years have begun proactively shutting off power in dry winds. More than 200,000 customers in California were without electricity as of Friday, according to poweroutage.com.
The weather service also issued a red flag warning for parts of central and Northern California through Friday morning, saying any fires would spread rapidly.
Rodriguez reported from San Francisco. Associated Press writer Jaimie Ding contributed from Los Angeles.
A firefighter stands on the roof of his engine as he prepares to leave the Norte Fire on Friday, Oct. 16, 2026, in San Juan Capistrano, Calif. (AP Photo/Denis Poroy)
Crews hose down properties burned by the Norte Fire on Friday, Oct. 16, 2026, in San Juan Capistrano, Calif. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
A roof engulfed in flames is seen during the Norte Fire on Friday, Oct. 16, 2026, in San Juan Capistrano, Calif. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
Resident Ephraim Taylor, grabs a garden hose in an effort to help with a wildfire spreading in his neighborhood, during the Norte Fire on Friday, Oct. 16, 2026, in San Juan Capistrano, Calif. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
A firefighters works to douse a fire on the roof of a house engulfed in flames during the Norte Fire on Friday, Oct. 16, 2026, in San Juan Capistrano, Calif. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
Firefighters work to douse a fire on house in flames during the Norte Fire on Friday, Oct. 16, 2026, in San Juan Capistrano, Calif. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
The sun is obscured by smoke as firefighters work to save structures on Via La Mirada during the Norte fire in San Clemente, Calif., on Friday, Oct. 16, 2026. (Paul Bersebach/The Orange County Register via AP)
Firefighters work to save structures on Via La Mirada during the Norte fire in San Clemente, Calif., on Friday, Oct. 16, 2026. (Paul Bersebach/The Orange County Register via AP)
The Bryson Fire illuminates a ridge top on Thursday, Oct. 15, 2026, in Malibu, Calif. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
Crews make a stand in front of the Bryson Fire on Thursday, Oct. 15, 2026, in Malibu, Calif. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
Crews make a stand in front of the Bryson Fire on Thursday, Oct. 15, 2026, in Malibu, Calif. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
A tanker drops retardant on the Peak Fire Thursday, Oct. 15, 2026, in Azusa, Calif. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
Hot spots glow across a hillside during the Bryson Fire in Malibu, Calif., Thursday, Oct. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
