On Dec. 30, the Marshall and Middle Fork fires burned through the neighborhoods of Boulder and Broomfield counties. Over 1,000 homes were destroyed in the fires, and around 30,000 residents were forced to evacuate. As part of a district-wide fundraiser, Creek students helped raise money during their advisory classes today for the Boulder County Wildfire Fund to support those suffering from fires. In total, the school raised $11,368 as of the end of the school day (some Advisory classes had not yet turned in their money by then).

Many students had a personal connection to people affected by the fires. Sophomore Akshita Bisoyi described how a family friend was forced to evacuate their home. Luckily, the fires did not reach their home, but Bisoyi hopes that her contribution will help other families who were not as fortunate.

“I did end up donating today a very small sum of 15 dollars that I would hope could make a difference to a family,” Bisoyi said. “Knowing someone who had to evacuate their home due to [the fires] motivated me to hand over whatever cash I had in my wallet.”

Others donated because they felt connected to the victims of the fires, not through friends or family, but rather community.

“I did donate, just some spare dollars in my backpack, mostly because this is our community struggling so much right now,” freshman Kimaya Kini said. “And if community isn’t about helping those of us in need, what is it?”

Creek’s contribution has left many feeling a sense of pride, especially Activities Director Dr. Krista Keogh, who communicated with other Activities Directors around the district to organize this fundraiser.

“If the other schools did about what we did – or even half of what we did – that’s a lot of money, that’s over $50,000 or so in one day,” Keogh said. “I didn’t really have expectations because I wanted people to be able to donate what they could, and that if they couldn’t or didn’t want to there was no pressure to do so, so I’m pleasantly surprised.”

Update: Jan. 13, 10:22 pm MDT – According to Keogh, the total count for Creek’s fundraiser on Jan. 12 is about 14,500 dollars.