Bay Area middle schoolers organize donation drive for LA wildfire relief
SAN RAMON, Calif. - Two young middle schoolers in San Ramon organized a donation drive for wildfire relief victims in Los Angeles on Saturday morning.
Pierce and Gautham are both students at Pine Valley Middle School in San Ramon. When the deadly wildfires broke out, they knew they wanted to help.
They reached out to their principal for help last weekend in an email.
"He asked, ‘can I do something to help the victims of the LA fire?'" Sandy Kontilis, the principal at Pine Valley Middle School said. "I don't normally message students back on the weekend, but when I saw that, I did."
With her help and after partnering with the school's leadership class, they brought a constant stream of cars full of donations to their school.
People brought toiletries, games and so many clothes that they eventually had to turn donations away.
"I'd like to say thank you so much," said Pierce. "We really appreciate everybody who has donated and all the support we've gotten throughout the community."
The donations will be packed up and held in a storage unit until they can be driven down to LA and distributed to those in need.
Many of the adults at the donation drive were inspired by the next generation's willingness to help those in need.
"It's hard not to get emotional about it," said Simone Yamshon, the leadership teacher at Pine Valley Middle School. "It's really fulfilling as a teacher to see so many students wanting to come out and support our community.