POCATELLO — After wildfires ravaged numerous neighborhoods and businesses in Southern California last month, Simplot Games is looking to raise donations to give high school athletes from the Pasadena area a chance to compete in the games next week.

The Elite of Southern California Track Team, which is comprised of ten athletes and three coaches, was poised to attend the games on February 20, 21, and 22 before the wildfires broke out. Now, with livelihoods upended, head coach Mike Knowles said the loss has been “devastating.”

“Mike has been a member of our Simplot games family and has been coming to the games for a very long time, since the nineties,” said Andrea Gumm, the public affairs manager for JR Simplot Company and a board member for the Simplot Games.

Gumm said they’ve been in contact with Knowles, who explained many of the athletes and their families and several coaches have lost homes and are currently living with friends or in hotel rooms.

Efforts to help those impacted by the wildfires have ramped up, with many entities ranging from celebrities to big box retailers to corporations donating tens to hundreds of millions of dollars to those displaced and in need.

With so much focus on the necessities—housing, clothing, food—the Simplot Games Board of Directors wanted to put focus on giving a weekend to these athletes and their coaches where they do not have worry about how they will pay for travel and expenses to attend the Games.

“(Mike) said these kids really wanted to come, obviously they’ve been training, and being in Southern California, an indoor track is not really a thing,” said Gumm. “So to come to Simplot Games and compete in an indoor track meet is a really neat experience for these kids. They don’t get to really do that.”

“They’ve got plenty to worry about,” she continued. “We got together and thought, what can we do so that they don’t have to worry about how to get here? We want them to be able to come and enjoy three days of fun, of community, of competition, and make some good memories in the midst of tragedy. And so we thought what if we put together a community fundraiser?”

The board hopes to raise at least $15,000 to help cover travel, hotel rooms, and meals to help the team attend, and said any additional funds raised will go towards fire relief efforts in Southern California where the team calls home.

“I’m a big believer that we are better together and so I think we can do this as a community and then when those kids are racing…we can get people here to cheer them on,” she said. “I just think we have an opportunity to provide some light to this group in really dark time.”

For those interested in donating, they accept cash or checks at Simplot Credit Union at 1880 Garret Way or their Venmo, which is @simplotcontributions. For questions, contact Gumm at Andrea.Gumm@simplot.com.