A businessman pained over the destruction to the town of Paradise caused by a deadly Northern California wildfire on Tuesday gave $1,000 each to students and staff members from the local high school.
Real estate developer and restaurant owner Bob Wilson arrived in the nearby city of Chico with two suitcases stuffed with checks totaling $1.1 million for Paradise High School's 980 students and 105 teachers and staff members.
Wilson is from the Rancho Santa Fe neighborhood of San Diego and said he thought of the donation after reading a Los Angeles Times story about the high school still standing with students scattered and separated from each other. One student told the newspaper he missed spending time with his friends at local hangouts and another said she cries constantly.
He told NBC 7 when he thinks back on his years at Escondido High School in the 1940s, he reminisces about "idyllic" times -- idyllic times that Paradise High School students were missing out on.
His intention was to make the kids smile and "give a little freedom to do whatever they wanted to do and maybe take their minds off what happened for a short period."
The money comes with no strings attached. Wilson doesn’t care what it’s spent on, he just hopes it brings them positivity during a disastrous time.
"I don't care. They can buy a bicycle if they want, have video games, I don't care. I just want them to have the freedom to this, and as I said, just lift their spirits. That's all I want out of this," he said.
He said reading about the hardships faced by the Paradise high school students broke his heart and he wanted them to know that someone cares about them and hopes the donation will inspire students to give, too.
"If you have a good intention to do something and you don't do it, it’s just a good intention. It doesn't go any further than that," Wilson said. "So, I hope they go beyond saying, 'Gee, I want to help out,' and then not do something about it."
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School Principal Loren Lighthall said he thinks about 900 students lost their homes because of the fire that killed 88 people.
