Petaluma high school hosts fundraiser for sister school damaged in fires

PETALUMA, Calif. (KTVU) - One Catholic school that was badly damaged is getting help from a sister school.

St. Vincent de Paul High School in Petaluma hosted a mass and pasta dinner Saturday night. School officials, faculty, and students wanted to provide support for everyone at Cardinal Newman High School in Santa Rosa.

Cardinal Newman High School lost over half of its campus in the North Bay Fires.

Over 700 people attended the event, which had raffle tickets, a silent auction, and gathered donations for the Cardinal Newman High School.

Cardinal Newman lost 19 classrooms, its library, main office, counseling office, along with baseball and soccer fields. 

Graham Rutherford, the principal for Cardinal Newman says, "We are here today to celebrate. The mass was positive, it wasn't a funeral. You know we still have a shool, you know half of it didn't burn down".

Organizers planned the event in just a few days and said it was all about having a good time and putting aside personal tragedy.