From one wildfire-vulnerable community to another, a collective of students, parents, teachers and organizations in Los Gatos organized a fundraiser on Tuesday to donate money to those affected by the Palisades and Eaton fires in Southern California.
For many in Los Gatos, the wildfires near Los Angeles mirrored the threats that residents face in their own community. Melissa Rofer, a substitute teacher in the Los Gatos-Saratoga Union High School District and Los Gatos Union School District, said the event was inspired by students who knew people affected by the fires and wanted to help. She recalled that at the same time that the Los Angeles fires were engulfing their friends’ houses, she was trying to get her fire insurance on her home reinstated. The evacuations during the Southern California fires mirrored her own parents’ evacuation from Boulder Creek during the CZU Lightning Complex fires and the devastation that wreaked havoc on the hills around Los Gatos.
The sentiment was mirrored by Shawn Mortensen, a 48-year-old Los Gatos resident who participates in the Home and School Club at Los Gatos High School, one of the groups that organized the event. Mortensen lives in the mountains, so wildfires are always at the forefront of his mind. And while Los Gatos residents may not be able to control everything to make sure their homes aren’t at risk for wildfires, they do their best to prepare for the worst.
“This is, I think, a good example of what this community really stands for,” Mortensen said, “and I think it really speaks highly of the kids and their desire to get involved.”
Rofer said planning for the fundraiser started in January in response to the L.A. fires. She said that the event was raising money for the Pasadena Educational Foundation Eaton Fire Response Fund, with some high school clubs also raising money for Palisades fire relief.
Rofer said organizers chose to donate to the Pasadena Educational Foundation after seeing so many students affected by the L.A. wildfires return to remote learning after losing their schools, or hearing of relatives losing their childhood homes and moving up to the Bay Area. She added that some Los Gatos High School alumni returned to see if the school had copies of yearbooks they lost in the fire.
“Ideally, it would be a more planned collaborative event, but it’s also really cool to be able to help out a community in need, and we can’t plan for those emergencies,” Rofer said.
The event was held in the Los Gatos Masonic Hall and featured performances by student musicians, Los Gatos Music and The Dance Company. There was also a silent auction, which included gift baskets, art collage workshops from a local business and a cake from Icing On The Cake. The event was sponsored by the Los Gatos High School Home and School Club, Kiwanis Club of Los Gatos, Los Gatos High School Wildcat Foundation and the Mt. Moriah Lodge in Los Gatos.
Attendees also had the opportunity to shop at a variety of booths selling clothes and accessories, flowers and crochet toys in the hall. Lisa McAdams, a speech therapist at Los Gatos High School and adviser for Supporting Education about Animal Life, or the SEAL Club, showed off orange dog toys made of old high school spirit rally T-shirts. The club’s members are neurodiverse girls who do volunteer work with animals.
“I think it’s a really great thing for them to get a chance to meet other people in the community, to feel a part of the community and to know that the things they do matter for communities outside of our own,” said McAdams.
Naked Hats founder Amanda Jacobs brought her a mobile hat bar to the event. Jacobs said she got involved because it was a worthy cause and she wanted to participate in an event in the community that she and her children, who are students at the high school, are a part of.
“I feel really happy to be part of it, and it’s so nice to see everyone coming out and supporting such a good cause, so it’s a pleasure to donate money back,” she added.
Chesle Bae, co-president of the high school’s Interact Club, said she and other club members reached out to businesses throughout downtown Los Gatos for donations, and Nothing Bundt Cakes offered several cakes for them to sell for Palisades Fire relief.
“I know a lot of people that have family that live down there, so Interact wanted to help with that because we care about serving our community,” Bae said.
Rofer said it may take about a week to count how much money was raised at the event.
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Source: www.mercurynews.com