The members of the Scotts Valley High School varsity football team will be spending the next week seeking contributions of relief supplies to take with them to on their road trip to the wildfire-devastated town of Weed on Oct. 2.
Weed, a small town of approximately 3,000 located near Mt. Shasta, has been hit hard by the rampaging Boles Fire, said Head Coach Louie Walters.
“They lost 150 homes and a mill that was a big source of income for the people that live there,” he said. “This town is in need and I think it’d be great to go lend a hand.”
The Weed area is a familiar one for Walters, who said that he took Falcon teams for training camps at the nearby College of the Siskiyous for the first 4 years of the SVHS football program.
Next week, when the Falcons head north to take on Etna Union High School, they hope to bring along a U-Haul stuffed with personal toiletries, blankets, backpacks, school supplies, diapers, new packages of underwear, dry goods, canned goods, snack food items, juice boxes, strollers, laundry soap, and cleaning supplies that the team will distribute to the people of Weed.
According to Walters, the primary organizers of the relief supply drive have been “the adults” — himself, Casey Engler, and Brenda Sorensen.
Once the team is in town, however, he said that four Falcon players — aspiring firefighters Branden Van Valer, Ethan Harris, Conner Van Valer, and Conner Engler — will be placed in charge of distributing supplies and leading their teammates in helping out the town in any way they are able.
“Since they’re future firefighters, I’m going to put them in charge,” Walters said. “Anything they need, we’re going to do.”
Walters said that the small size of Weed struck home for him and his team — particularly in such a dry year when the small communities of Santa Cruz County could just as easily be in the same situation that the people of Weed are in.
“For us, it puts things in perspective,” he said. “Weed is the size of Felton.”
Those seeking to make donations can do so at Falcon football practices or by contacting Louie Walters at lw******@sa*******.us.
