The community of Chandler has come together yet again to help a local family.
Members of the Student Council at Chandler Junior High are currently organizing the Walk for Will fundraiser, aiming to raise money to support the Conley-Fergusons as they recover from the tragedy of the March wildfires.
Ninth-grader Will Conley was out with his father, Allen Ferguson, during the fires to check on a family member. The two got caught in the flames after their four-wheeler wrecked, and Allen carried Will to the roadside. Allen sadly succumbed to his injuries the next morning. Will remains in the hospital, receiving treatment for severe burns.
According to the latest social media updates from his mother, Deborah Ferguson, Will is doing better. He’s started physical therapy, among other treatments, and may be able to move out of the ICU soon.
“It’s a thing that hits close to home with us because he was really close to our grade… and we really care about this family and we think that they really could use our support and so we’re gonna do whatever we can to help them,” said Addilyn Miller.
Ninth grader Lizzy Pryor echoed that sentiment.
“He’s my classmate and we may not be the closest friends… he’s on my wrestling team, but he’s still someone that I care for,” she said. “He’s very strong, and I’ve been praying for him to get better.”
The group is gathering donations from businesses and individuals. On May 7, they will complete a walk-through of downtown Chandler to deliver thank-you cards to businesses and individuals who donate.
The group said that it’s important to organize events like this to bring the school together.
“Especially with everything going on because we’ve got tragedy after tragedy, and I just also feel like coming together is really important,” said Karyss Campbell.
Gracie Dawley agreed, saying, “I think that it’s really hard to overcome a situation, especially this one in particular, without the support of people. And so I feel like it’s just kind of our job as student council to just come together and help everybody.”
Julia Gardner added to that, saying it’s important to pull together to help Will and his family.
“I just think it feels better to know that you have a whole community that cares about you instead of just one person,” she said.
In addition to “Walk for Will,” a benefit bowling tournament was held for the family on April 23 at Route 66 Bowl. Crystal Grubbs organized the event and stated that they raised $6,700 for the family through the bowling tournament and a silent auction.
Grubbs has worked in the fire service, as has her husband and daughter. While she wasn’t sure of other ways she could help the family, this was something she could do.
“The only way I could think of to help out was I work at a bowling alley. Let’s do a bowling tournament. I know our leagues usually always back anything I throw at them. And I did, and then they showed up,” she said.
The benefit was so successful that Grubbs is considering making it a yearly event.
“They’re going to need it every single year. It’s not going to be just this year, and it’s done, and they don’t need anything else. And so if we kind of make it like a yearly thing, even if we just do it for, you know, two or three years, I would like to imagine how many people we could reach next year,” she said.
A GoFundMe campaign started by Shane Earp is still ongoing and has raised over $116,000 to help with Will’s medical bills,