NEW MEADOWS, Idaho — Earlier this month, tragedy struck the town of New Meadows when Rory and Sara Mehen were killed at the Hartland Inn, the hotel they owned.
On Wednesday, students and staff decided to give back to the community - and the Mehens' legacy in New Meadows - by raking leaves and cleaning up the property.
"We had a community member express a need to come over and help out at the Hartland Inn," Meadows Valley School principal Dee Frederickson said. "So, our kids and my assistant principal jumped on it full force. They were here raking and cleaning up."
About 40 high school-age students from the K-12 school came to help. They were joined by school faculty and community volunteers.
"I'm really proud of them. We're working on work ethic and ways that what we're teaching them in school apply to their life outside of school," Fredrickson said. "This is another example of how that happens in our community."
Meadows Valley School was close enough for students to walk to the Hartland Inn around their lunch break. Pizza was provided by a local restaurant.
The students were able to get everything cleaned up in about an hour, filling a pickup truck with trash bags full of leaves.
"It gives them a way to give back," Fredrickson said. "We have a lot of people who contribute to our school and our community."
The Mehens were two of the community members who contributed a lot to the school.
"It's really heartwarming because Rory and Sara, they were extremely involved in our community, especially with the youth" science teacher and senior advisor, Kaytlyn Gilliam said. "There was a moment when we were raking leaves that I got really emotional. Just being here in this place where they welcomed people into their home and then seeing these students who I know Rory and Sara impacted, whether directly or indirectly, in some way, and they were able to give back to this place, it was absolutely amazing."
The Mehens had been working to raise money to build a skate park next to the school to give students something to do after class.
"They had a dream to help us build a new skatepark in New Meadows," Meadows Valley School assistant principal, Katey Basye said. "They found a need. Our students don't have a lot of after-school activities to do. A project that was originally kind of started in the school and didn't really go anywhere and they picked it up and ran with it. So, they've been working on some fundraisers for that."
One fundraising event was scheduled at the Hartland Inn, but was moved to New Meadows City Park on Oct. 29. The community will continue fundraising to build that skate park in the Mehens' memory.
"That's what was special about today, having them full circle," Basye said. "It started with a dream at the school that didn't go anywhere for a while, and then they spearheaded that and kicked it off. They saw that need and we want to fill that dream for them."
The community has a goal to raise $600,000 to build the skate park. Information on how to donate can be found at nmskatepark.org.
Watch more Local News:
See the latest news from around the Treasure Valley and the Gem State in our YouTube playlist: