I believe that sometimes you just can't wait for the big organizations to plan a more permanent solution to a problem. Sometimes you just need a small group of people to act quickly on short notice. A couple of months into my freshmen year, there was an enormous outbreak of wildfires up in Lake County. Everyone up there had to be evacuated and were moved to shelters while the firefighters struggled to gain control of the fire. While all those people were camping out in the fairgrounds and filling up the homeless shelters, Red Cross was taking their time to organize and prepare donation sites.

We knew that the Red Cross could take days to organize everything. We thought of those poor people, who didn't have anything with them but the clothes on their backs when they ran out of their houses. It was clear that they needed supplies brought to them immediately. So the same day we learned of the fire, my family and I decided to set up a donation center at New Tech to  collect some supplies.  We then planned to send the donations up to the evacuated people at the end of the day.

It was very hot out in front of the school. Even with the sunshade we had brought, we were still sweating in the heat. I had just finished hanging up the last of the posters a couple of friends and I had made, “Donation Center #ValleyFire.” I looked up at the sky. The menacing cloud of black smoke grew ever higher in the nearly clear, blue sky. We had a few donors come already. They had brought canned food, packs of bottled water, and some toiletries. No one else came for hours. Every time a car drove by, I got excited, only to find that they were just passing by. I went home to grab my computer so I would at least get some homework done while I was there.
When I came back we had piles of supplies and many cars waiting to drop more donations off. We had piles of supplies, more than just food and water, we had blankets, tents, toys, and some clothes. I was so surprised and happy that people were helping and spreading the word to others after they donated. At the end of the day, we had a flatbed truck and my dad's big truck completely filled with donations. 

I was so proud of us. We stepped in and set up a donation center on the spot while Red Cross was still thinking of what to do. We weren't the only ones either. I later learned that other places such as Goodwill opened up for donations and sent them up at the end of the day as well. I believe that sometimes you can't wait for a large and powerful group of people to come up with a solution to a problem. I believe that sometimes it takes a small hand to make a big difference