Fundraisers help fit kids with new PE shoes after fire at school gym
When John Lamas’ 13-year-old sister Quinn Gladstone-Lamas sat at the dinner table and told him she lost her PE shoes in a fire at Ensign Intermediate School’s gym last month, he thought about the hundreds of other students who also must have lost their belongings.
As a longtime athlete and a captain of Newport Harbor High School’s varsity football team, the loss of the PE shoes hit Lamas hard.
Shortly after hearing of the fire Nov. 11 at the Newport Beach middle school, he started a crowdfunding campaign at Gofundme.com to raise money to help buy new running shoes for students who still need theirs replaced. He later arranged for Ensign students to get a 10% discount on shoes Tuesday at Road Runner Sports in Costa Mesa.
“Some kids may be able to go out and buy new shoes, while some kids can’t,” Lamas, 18, said. “Why not do something that would give every kid who lost shoes a way to get new ones?”
Road Runner also participated in a fundraiser in which customers who mentioned Ensign School at the register could have 10% of their purchase go toward new shoes for students.
As handfuls of Ensign students entered the Costa Mesa Road Runner store to try on new shoes, Lamas and his family presented Ensign Principal Mike Sciacca with a check for $3,151 raised through the Gofundme page.
In addition to the check and proceeds from the Road Runner fundraiser, a $2,500 donation from the Newport Beach Police Department will be dedicated to new shoes.
“It’s impressive how the community has come together,” Sciacca said.
Ensign’s gym was closed after the early-morning fire damaged the girls’ locker room. The building also includes a boys’ locker room.
An arson investigation was begun after authorities said they found signs of forced entry and vandalism at the school at 2000 Cliff Drive.
According to Newport fire Capt. Ty Lunde, the investigation, conducted by the city fire and police departments, is continuing.
In the meantime, an unused music room is serving as the girls’ changing area for gym classes, while a computer lab is being used as the boys’ changing area, Sciacca said. Students are using laptops instead of the computer lab while it’s serving as a changing area.
Gym classes for the school, which has about 1,250 students, are being held outside.
Sciacca said the girls’ locker room will be closed all school year. He hopes the gym can reopen within the next month.
Lamas said he spread the word about the Gofundme page by telling his teammates, Sciacca and Newport Harbor Principal Sean Boulton about it. He also promoted it on his social media pages.
For every donation made, Lamas got a notification on his phone. Some donations referenced his number on the football team — 51 — with amounts of $51, $251 and $351.
“The Gofundme went farther than I expected; I thought $1,000 would be a lot,” Lamas said. “If there was a fire at Newport Harbor, I would love to get my stuff back, and if someone did something to try and gain back what I had before, I’d feel really blessed.”
The Gofundme page at gofundme.com/ensign-intermediate-school-fire is still accepting donations.
Twitter: @AlexandraChan10
