On April 10th, I spent a morning in Pasadena, California, visiting teacher Gigi Bizar at the Westridge School. Westridge is an all-girls school and has partnered with H2O for Life for the past 13 years!

It was serendipitous that the “Water Warriors” club was hosting its final H2O for Life event for the year. The girls were hosting a raffle. Each club member donated an item or a basket. At 7 am, I helped Gigi and several of her “Warriors” set up the raffle outside on tables to get ready to sell tickets! It was amazing. Girls bought raffle tickets for $1 and put them into the box of the item they hoped to win. It was a 45-minute frenzy that would take place again during lunch, and again the next day before the afternoon drawings for winners.

The raffle raised over $8,000! That pushed their fundraising for the year to over $23,000 for H2O for Life. Westridge has provided more than $200,000 for projects over the years.

I was able to chat with the Water Warriors and tour the school. My favorite destination was the rain garden and flower garden that the Water Warriors have built and maintained on campus over many years. They not only raised funds but also learned how important it is to protect and conserve the water around your school and homes.

Congratulations and Thank You to the Water Warriors and, of course, their dedicated teacher and my dear friend, Gigi!

-submitted by Patty Hall