With 20% of Smith students calling the West Coast home and California being one of the most represented states on campus, the California wildfires have devastated the Smith community. California’s Incident Archive states that in 2025 alone, there have been 359 wildfires, 29 fatalities and 16,248 structures destroyed. Gaby Ayala Becerra ’25 and Hadley Vareschi-Woelfel ’25, with the help of Smith Athletics and the Smith Student Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC), have transformed their grief into action by organizing a campus-wide Jog-a-Thon to raise money for relief efforts.