Amid Los Angeles-Area Wildfires, Serena Williams’ Husband Alexis Ohanian Finds Solace After UVA Women’s Basketball Team’s Win

“It’s surreal to think there’s literally nothing to go back to. No home, no library, no stores, no kids’ karate dojo, no theatre, no community centre. It’s all just gone. I keep thinking “I should have grabbed more of my stuff before I fled”,” these words of Los Angeles resident Lucy Sheriff give just a glimpse of the raging wildfire that has turned roughly 56 square miles of land over the last four days into ashes.

The fires have turned more than nine thousand structures into rubbles, and have killed at least 11 people. But L.A. County Sheriff Robert Luna said, “We do, unfortunately, anticipate that deaths will go up because of the destruction that we’re seeing. We’re not able to get in there in a manner — because it’s still not safe — to really do a thorough search.”

The largest blaze, the Palisades fire between Santa Monica and Malibu, was contained 8 percent on Friday morning, meaning firefighters have established lines around that much of the perimeter to prevent the blaze from spreading. On the other hand, to the east, 3 percent of the Eaton fire has been contained, near Altadena and Pasadena. Both blazes now rank in the top five most destructive fires in California’s history. Further worsening the situation, yet another fire ignited on Friday.

The Archer fire, triggered evacuation orders in Granada Hills, northwest of downtown Los Angeles and growing to 19 acres before firefighters stopped its progress. The Kenneth fire that broke out to the east, near Calabasas, late Thursday quickly spread through 1,000 acres, but by Friday morning, more than a third of it was contained. The country is shocked and there has been hardly anything to look up to beyond the morbidity. Amid all the gloominess, Serena Williams’ husband Alexis Ohanian had a moment of positivity.

As the chaos continued, the University of Virginia women’s basketball team bagged a thrilling victory, bringing some hope to Ohanian’s otherwise sad soul at the moment. As a proud UVA alum, he found relief in their victory, highlighting a small flare of happiness in tough times.

Ohanian shared the news on his IG story, highlighting the UV women’s basketball team’s epic win over Clemson in the 2024-25 Atlantic Coast Conference. “Small ray of sunshine on a dark week – great job, ladies,” he wrote. The UVU team fought hard to achieve a 67-60 win with the former team’s star player Kymora Johnson bagging 6 assists, 2 steals and 2 rebounds each with 28 game-high points. Olivia McGhee also performed quite well helping with 14 points on 6-9 shooting.

The Reddit co-founder recently donated a large sum to his alma mater, the University of Virginia’s female basketball team. Although the amount was not disclosed initially, Ohanian later confirmed it surpassed a million dollars. It’s the largest donation ever received by UVU’s women’s basketball program.

Reflecting on Ohanian’s generous act, the University’s official news page shared: “to elevate recruiting and player retention efforts while addressing the financial and competitive demands of this new era of college athletics.” After the Reddit co-founder’s help, the UVA female basketball team bagged their first win, leaving the tech mogul quite impressed.

The team’s performance delighted Ohanian who recently voiced concerns over the women’s college-level sports challenges with funds due to under-investment. He shared the Best of Both Worlds podcast’s clip and wrote on his social media platform, “Women’s college basketball is up next, I’ll tell you that right now. @Flaujae asked if I’d considered investing in the WNBA, but my sights are set on NCAA Women’s Basketball.” Ohanian then referred to his investment project at the University of Virginia showing that he has started financially empowering female athletes at the college level.

The University of Virginia all-female basketball team’s recent win might have delighted Ohanian, but the LA bushfire incident still impacts him. Showing off his responsible citizen personality, he has proposed to support and offer relief to the bushfire-affected people. Given that the Los Angeles bushfire spread across 2000 acres forcing people to evacuate their homes, Ohanian’s proposal comes as a great sign of humanity.

Alexis Ohanian asks followers to help him send relief to the LA bushfire victims

Yesterday, the Reddit co-founder posted on X asking his followers to help with the contact information of a reliable and efficient organization so that he can send support and relief to those affected by this disaster. “Devastating. Who are the best orgs with the least overhead aka most efficiency we should be donating to help?” he wrote on X. He also shared the works of an organization named Direct Relief actively working on the grounds to distribute N95 respirators to the victims and hygiene kits to the evacuation centers.

Ohanian also shared WC Kitchen’s update that they will offer meals overnight to the first responders of the wildfire. “Look for the helpers,” he wrote in his IG story.

Serena Williams’ husband also used his X platform to send help and support to the victims ensuring his followers are safe. He shared a screenshot of an application that helped people send new evacuation-related orders. “LA make sure you have this app. Just updated with new evac orders,” he tweeted.

Alexis Ohanian’s concern for the LA bushfire victims alongside his work to advocate for the rights of the female athletes showcases him as a great human being. He truly deserves the applause for such generosity. What do you think about it?