Students Praised For Helping Flood Victims

Many stories are being told about people helping others deal with flooding over the last few weeks — and the latest involves local students.

Students from several high schools have been helping fill sandbags at the various stations around the area.

Photo courtesy of Kal Leadership/Twitter

Carly Witham, whose family has been sandbagging its property on Okanagan Lake in the Tronson Road area, can’t say enough about the help they found Wednesday at the Okanagan Landing sandbag site.

She found students from a phys-ed class at Fulton School.

“They all had sandbags filled already, and anyone that pulled up, they helped load them, they helped tie them, and it was amazing. It really helped us out when you’re kind of exhausted from sandbagging physically and emotionally. It was just so nice.”

Witham says she hopes her kids get to do something like that one day.

Her dock on Okanagan Lake was one of several damaged or destroyed by Tuesday night’s storm.

She says the area is littered with debris, including pieces from other docks ripped apart by the storm.

Vernon School District superintendent Joe Rogers says VSS and Kalamalka students are also filling sandbags, some as part of their Phys-Ed classes.

“It really started as a school initiative though teachers, and then they asked for a little bit of support, so the district is providing some busing to move a bunch of kids to the sandbag areas,” Rogers tells Kiss FM.

Rogers says it’s a learning experience for the students.

“One of the main area we’re responsible for in public schools is teaching social responsibility, and there’s families in crisis on the lakes and rivers, and we want to make sure our kids understand that and help in anyway they can.”