Couture Club Helps Camp Fire Victims
November 30, 2018
With the assistance of the Leadership class, the Couture for a Cause Club collected clothes and other provisions for survivors of Camp Fire starting November 14. The Camp Fire was California’s deadliest wildfire yet, devastating over 117,000 acres and claiming over 70 lives in Northern California.
Junior Taylor Floyd, the club president, is organizing the drive. “[The club combines] clothing and fashion and philanthropy, so we were already planning on doing clothing drives throughout the year,” Floyd explained.
More importantly, however, was how close the fire touched the lives of some of the club’s members.”[Junior Danielle Duffy,] my friend that I started the club with, her cousin’s house burned down in Paradise,” said Floyd.
English teacher Tom Duffy, whose classroom is being used to collect donations, added that Danielle Duffy’s cousins lost their cat as well. He said, “We all take so much for granted. Hopefully, we can all find a small way to help, [and] hopefully we can all remember the many reasons we all have to be grateful.”
The organizers are collecting donations such as jackets, sweaters, shoes, backpacks, sleeping bags, and Target gift cards. Since many survivors lost nearly all of their possessions, “We are really looking for anything anyone is willing to donate,” said Floyd.
“The reality is so painful,” agreed Duffy. “Lives were lost. Families lost homes and pets. An entire community was literally torched. If we can provide any relief, or help these people, in even a small way, then it’s mission accomplished.”
Duffy was also quick to give the credit for the organization of the drive to Danielle Duffy and Floyd. “They did all the work. All I did was provide a classroom in which to take the donations,” said Duffy.
The donations will be delivered to the Hope Center in Oroville and will be distributed to victims of the fire.
Sophomore class officer Isabella Bartos, who is part of Leadership’s philanthropy committee, said that Leadership is “supporting them by putting [the donation drive] in the announcements” and “helping to collect items” in the Leadership classroom.
“We’re so fortunate to not have had our houses affected that much by the fire, so it’s good to give back when you have more than others,” said Bartos.
