Students in the Culinary Class at Riverbank High School did baking with some purpose this past week.

While they normally bake as part of classroom studies and often assist with various events around the community, this time their reach went out a little further.

Instructor Emily Cowdrey said the class helped out with an event called the North Bay Love Fire Benefit hosted in Sebastopol.

“My culinary classed baked desserts for this event last week for the fire victims in the North Bay,” Cowdrey explained. “We baked about 200 cookies, four dozen cupcakes and about 100 brownies.”

Cowdrey was able to personally take the baked good from the RHS students to the benefit, then stayed to help cook and serve food. The benefit helped to establish a fire recovery fund for those victims who lost homes and property in the devastating wildfires that have ravaged areas up and down the state over the last couple of weeks.

Throughout the Central Valley, residents are stepping up with donations to help fire victims get back on their feet, whether it’s monetary donations to the American Red Cross, joining in with a food drive or sending toiletries to shelters. Firefighters were starting to get the upper hand on the blazes early in the week, with forecasters also indicating a chance of rain late in the week that could also aid with the ongoing firefighting efforts.