FILLMORE : Volunteers Set Fund Goal for Grad Night

6Volunteers raising funds to give Fillmore High School seniors a safe and sober graduation night hope to meet their $7,500 goal before the end of May.

But even if they succeed in raising enough money to send 145 students on a cruise, the committee will keep on working.

“We’re planning to make this an annual event,” said Fillmore Fire Chief Pat Askren, who has helped lead the monthlong fund-raising drive. “We need to provide these kids with a way to celebrate without having alcohol and killing themselves.”

In recent months, about two dozen parents and community leaders have worked to raise money to provide students with an alternative to parties where alcohol is served.

The group plans to hire a paddle-wheel boat to take the students on a four-hour mini-cruise in the Port of Long Beach.

Committee member Raelene Chaney, who works as a campus supervisor at Fillmore High, said it would cost about $53 per student for an evening on a boat with food, a disc jockey, games and prizes, including a 1991 car donated by a local auto dealer.