Eagles' shrimp boil raises funds for Pintos wrestling team

The California community filled the room for a shrimp boil Friday night, May 21, 2021, hosted by the California Eagles.
The California community filled the room for a shrimp boil Friday night, May 21, 2021, hosted by the California Eagles.

With a new wrestling program established at California High School, the California Eagles took it upon themselves to raise funds for the Pintos' wrestling team through a shrimp boil benefit Friday night.

Ultimately, the benefit was a success, resulting in more than $4,000 in donations, between those tallied the night of and other donations given by Eagles members.

Looking to give the team a financial head start, Eagles president Steve Liebi said the club decided to host a fundraiser to help the team with the cost of acquiring any uniforms, equipment or supplies it might need before the next season begins.

"The sport itself teaches competition and good sportsmanship," Liebi said. "There's just a lot of good things that come out of all of our extracurricular activities, and we hope that the school is satisfied with what we're trying to do is to help them."

Liebi said the Eagles are a community-minded non-profit organization, always looking to help the school wherever they can. The club itself donated $1,400 to purchase all the food it would need for a shrimp boil.

While Liebi said they were expecting a large turnout from the community, he was surprised by how fast the event began.

"We had plenty of food, but we didn't anticipate the big rush," Liebi said. "They're was a little bit more of a wait than we wanted for people to have, but we had six pots on the stove at the same time. We thought we would be able to keep up."

Despite the hiccup, Liebi said the rush was only a minor issue. He said he thought the event went very well overall.

"There's just a lot of things that we hope we can do for the kids," Liebi said. "When kids find good, clean activities that they can go to, then that keeps them out of getting into trouble."

The Eagles' next fundraiser is their "Playing for Peyton" event on June 19, a benefit raising money for a local 20-month-old who suffered extensive burns on her hands. All proceeds will go Peyton and her family as they pay for medical bills and expenses. The public can expect to see music, drawings and raffles, a spaghetti dinner, a poker run and a single-elimination corn hole tournament.