Raising Funds For Fire Victims - KXNet - Bismarck/Minot/Williston/Dickinson

Raising Funds For Fire Victims

Two Minot teens saw a family in need...and decided it was time for them to step in.

When news broke this week that a family at Rice Lake had their home and possessions destroyed by fire, Minot High School sophomores Paige Thomas and Mandi Zavalney decided they wanted to try and help them out.

That meant going back to their old school -- Jim Hill.

This morning at Jim Hill, Thomas and Zavalney addressed the entire school, asking if they would help in a project to raise funds for the family.

The idea is something called a 'Money Tree'...and it is exactly what you would think...a tree made of money.

With north of 700 students at Jim Hill, the hope is to raise a large amount to help offset the expenses brought on by the blaze this week.

(Paige Thomas - MHS Sophomore) "Mandi has always been the one to help out and do charity work and I came to her with an idea and said I don't really know what we are going to do but we need to do something and then together we went from there and came up with this. It is a work in progress but it is going to happen." (Mandi Zavalney - MHS Sophomore) "I think if everybody pitches in, even if it is just a dollar...it will just be phenomenal."