When Katherine Hu learned about the impacts of the Bald Range wildfire, she knew she had to do something to help.
The 14-year-old high school student from Richmond says she first heard about the situation from a friend in the Okanagan.
“She told me what the families were experiencing there,” Hu said. “They were forced to leave their homes.”
She sprang into action, stocking up on supplies and collecting donations.
“We raised about $10,000, and it’s all from my family and friends,” she said.
“I got necessities like toiletries, tissues, toothbrushes, and medication. There were lots of volunteers who wanted to help. It made me feel like there are lots of people around who want to support this situation.”
Over the weekend, she personally made the trip up to Penticton to deliver the goods. Along the way, she saw the devastation firsthand.
“I woke up at 3 a.m. and we started driving at 4,” she said. “We stopped at Hope first, and the air quality was really bad. The sky was really orange. I saw the trees were all dried up and the houses were burned down.”
The donations were distributed to wildfire evacuees through OneSky Community Resources, a local non-profit.
OneSky director Jared Hidber says Hu’s donations went a long way.
“Lots of supplies, as soon as they were on the shelves, they were gone again,” Hidber said.
“Whenever youth have that kind of impact, it says a lot about their future, but it also helps influence other youths to do something similar. It also speaks volumes that she isn’t from our community. How cool is it that another community is supporting us?”
As evacuation orders are downgraded and residents are slowly returning home, Hu says she isn’t done yet and is planning to make another trip with more donations next month.
