The Life Skills Vocational class at Frenship High School has taken action to support survivors of the California wildfires by organizing a snack drive. Impacted by the news of the devastating fires, the students decided to help by collecting essential items for those in need. 

“We watch the news every morning and discuss current events. When we saw the story about the California wildfires, the class decided to take action. We realized how important it is to help others, so we set up this drive,” said Philip Garza, Special Education Teacher. 

The students took ownership of the planning and promotion of the drive. They reviewed the items needed, created flyers, and worked together to spread the word throughout the school. By handing out flyers during lunch and explaining the purpose of the drive, they interacted with their peers to encourage participation. 

“We are also helping students with social skills. Students have to communicate with peers and staff about our snack drive. They are asked to communicate what we are doing, why we are doing it, and who we are helping. They also communicate with others while collecting donations,” said Garza.  

When choosing a distribution partner, the class selected The Dream Center in Los Angeles, a reputable charity that provides services to communities in need. 

“The Dream Center is one of the few organizations that has information on how to ship the items. Most of the other locations were only accepting in person donations,” said Garza. “We will also have a lesson on postage and how to ship a package. We will help our students sort and prepare the packages to be shipped.” 

Through this experience, Garza hopes his students learn the value of lending a helping hand to those in need.  

“We would like our students to learn and understand the importance of selfless acts and helping others,” said Garza. “It is also important for them to get involved and feel a sense of pride in helping people.” 

In addition to the snack drive, the students have been inspired to write thank-you cards for the brave firefighters in California. 

“Our kids are amazing and are incredibly excited about getting to help people who are in need,” said Garza. “We are currently working on finding out where we could send them to ensure the firefighters know that they are appreciated.” 

The Snack Drive will be accepting donations through Friday, January 31, with plans on shipping the packages on Monday, February 3.   

If you are interested in helping, you can drop off individually wrapped snacks to the office at Frenship High School. 

Great work, Frenship Vocational students! Way to show the Frenship Serve Model in action!