On Dec. 7, WHS, the Warrior Foundation and the WHS football program collected clothes, water, non perishable food, various toys, baby goods, blankets and toiletries to give to the victims of the recent fires in Southern California.

“The donations went to the Ventura County fairgrounds,” said Ryan L’Heureux ‘19. “It is one of the main shelters in the area for refugees from the fire.”

Donations poured in from all across the area, filling up a large portion of the WHS teacher parking lot. Volunteers “stuffed the bus” — loaded school buses — with the various items.

“It was a really cool experience seeing the community come together to donate,” said football player Grady Johnson ‘19. “There were people lining up to give to the victims.”

The event was a huge success: three school buses were successfully “stuffed” with goods, as well as an entire moving truck. Moreover, two entire bus storage compartments were filled with water bottles.

“We only had one and a half days to advertise, but we ended up with a ton of people who donated,” said L’Heureux. “It was somewhat overwhelming due to the sheer amount of cars lined up.”

Overall, the program was not only beneficial to the victims the donations went to, but many who participated felt that it was a good experience for them too.

“I felt really good helping out the program for a good cause,” said Johnson. “[I gained] a lot of community service experience from volunteering.”