Rocklin High School volleyball team holds gift card drive for Maui fire victims

Aug 11, 2023

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The Rocklin High School girls volleyball team is heading to a tournament on the Big Island of Hawaii on Wednesday, and they plan to lend a hand to students their age who’ve been affected by the wildfires on Maui.

“Our girls approached me about it and thought it would be nice to do something,” said Rocklin High School volleyball coach, Dave Muscarella. He spoke with KCRA 3 during a practice ahead of his team’s trip to the Labor Day Classic volleyball tournament, happening this year on the Big Island.

When the team got word the tournament was still "a go," despite the fires that happened on the next island over, they started thinking of ways to help students on the island of Maui – eventually coming up with the idea of hosting a Visa gift card drive.

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“We have stuff that we could have given them, but I think that giving them something that they can put money towards, what they need to put it towards, I think will help them a lot,” said senior Rocklin High School volleyball player Madelynn Papia.

Muscarella connected with the athletic director for Lahainaluna High School on Maui and organized a gift card drop to take place as the Rocklin team heads through Maui on their way home to the Sacramento area.

“When we give it to them, I’m gonna be so thankful for all the people that live in Rocklin,” Papia said. “I’ll be thankful a lot for what I do have and hopefully they’ll have all their stuff back in no time… I do really hope they get what they need from what we’re giving them.”

People who would like to donate are encouraged to drop off Visa gift cards at the Rocklin High School front office through 4 p.m. Tuesday. Thirteen members of the volleyball team are set to fly to Hawaii Wednesday, and will head back to Sacramento on September 4. When they stop over on the island of Maui on their way home, they plan to meet with representatives from Lahainaluna High.

Muscarella said his team is a special group that truly cares about their counterparts on Maui who they’re trying to help.

“It hit close to home, I mean, [the Camp Fire in] Paradise wasn’t that long ago. I think most of them remember that,” Muscarella said. “We felt for them and it was really close to us and we’re now going over to Hawaii and felt like we had an opportunity to help there as well.”

The high school also set up a fund to collect donations for the wildfire victims through its parent club. That donation portal can be found at this link.