Orcutt Junior High students raised over $2,600 in fundraiser with safe drinking water organization

ORCUTT, Calif. – Orcutt Junior High School students raised nearly $2,660 in one month as part of a fundraiser with Gravity Water, an organization dedicated to turning rain into safe drinking water for in-need schools around the world.

The students helped develop lessons for Global Water Crisis Awareness Week and met with Gravity Water representatives to develop a school-wide campaign plan.

They hosted fundraising campaigns on campus, such as a homeroom collection competition, lunchtime raffles, and stress toy sales, Orcutt Union School District spokeswoman Julie Payne said.

Along with the student's efforts, Vietnam War veteran Richard Tibben contacted the junior high about donating a gold coin from his collection after a story ran in local media, according to Payne. He said that he wanted to give back to a place that has had a lasting impact on him – Coc Ly 1 Secondary School in Bac Ha, Vietnam.

The international humanitarian campaign helped to create lasting change in the junior high's sister school in Vietnam, she added.

"I am so incredibly proud of our students for not just their interest in partaking in this international humanitarian campaign, but for organizing and running many of the fundraising elements," said Orcutt Junior High School counselor Sienna Robertson.

"It was an incredible process to witness our students rise to the occasion and create lasting change both for the students at OJHS, as well as our sister school in Vietnam.”