Not much was left for Brandon Jay, his wife Gwendolyn Sanford and their two children. The Eaton fire took their home, and their beloved music studio. But amid the rubble, Sanford’s Martin acoustic guitar and Jay’s Fender Strat survived.

Turns out, in the wake of the Jan. 7 catastrophe, the guitars have become more than instruments. They’re vessels that preserve their memories. They’ve also become conduits to healing — for them and their community.

That reverence for their town is how their organization, Altadena Musicians, began.

Jay played in several bands in Los Angeles, including the alt-rock band Lutefisk, which emerged during the 1990s Silverlake alternative music scene. Additionally, Jay and Sanford composed music for TV shows “Orange is the New Black” and “Weeds.”

Prior to the Eaton fire, Jay and Sanford were booked to play a show at the third annual Pasadena Neighbor Day, an event full of free music for the community to enjoy. At first on the fence, they figured that playing would be “an opportunity to be somewhere in the public, where our friends could meet us, and we could see some neighbors,” saying it “just felt like the right thing to do.”

Pasadena Neighbor Day is also where the idea for his organization, Altadena Musicians, sprung. Knowing Jay and his family lost their entire music studio, many friends, neighbors, and family members approached Jay with instruments.

Jay said Altadena Musicians works like “a wedding registry for your instruments.” They accept donations for instruments and match them to the wildfire victims who lost those exact ones.

“The value of the instrument is not necessarily the monetary value. It’s the sentimental value, the stories of how you got them, what recordings you do, and how you saved up for something,” said Jay.

Jay was inspired to start Altadena Musicians by his friend, Matt Chait and his daughter, Avery Colvert, who founded “Altadena Girls”, which helps teens return to a sense of normalcy after the LA wildfires. Some of the first partnerships they formed were with Bertrand’s Old Town Music, who had originally called Altadena Girls after receiving instrument donations but were redirected to send their help over to Altadena Musicians.

Among one of Altadena Musicians’ first recipients was Sogol Moshfegh’s family, who lost their home and all their instruments in the Eaton fire—keyboards, ukuleles, guitars, and even a singing bowl.

The loss was especially painful for Moshfegh’s husband, Daniel Clason Hook, whose prized Martin acoustic guitar—the first instrument he had saved for as a teenager—was gone. In what seemed like serendipity, a musician approached Jay with a Martin acoustic guitar he wanted to donate, coincidentally also the first instrument Smith had worked to purchase in his youth. It was a perfect match.

“They didn’t realize how much they were missing their instruments until they had them back, and then it just made feel more like home,” said Jay.

Through donations, Altadena Musicians bought Moshfegh’s family a $1,000 Amoeba gift card and several records of artists who’d also lost their homes in the wildfires, including The Postal Service’s Jimmy Tamborello and Dawes’ Taylor and Griffin Goldsmith.

Jay described many other match stories like Moshfegh’s, which he hopes to one day turn into a book.

Even before the L.A. wildfires prompted the creation of Altadena Musicians, the community already had a robust “Buy Nothing” Facebook group with a similar model. This local exchange network allows neighbors to ‘give and receive, share, lend, and express gratitude’ as part of a worldwide system of hyper-local gift economies.”

Jay figured the “Buy Nothing” group would be a good place to start when looking for potential donors and receivers. So far, Altadena Musicians has received over 1,000 signups.

“There’s a lot of donations where you feel a pressure of, you’ve got to hurry because it’s going to close soon, and you’re done. But this is going to be a long road,” Jay said in front of the crowd at an Altadena Musicians benefit concert. “I really don’t think you need to spend money on instruments. Save your money, come and check with us first, and just let us know what your priority is.”

Besides instruments, Altadena Musicians has also offered free music lessons, recording sessions, and vinyl records to musicians affected by the wildfires.

Fire-affected musicians can register their gear lost on their website, Altadenamusicians.org. Donors can also register on the site by contributing financial help to replace instruments or gifting them directly.