When Port Moody's Mossom Creek Hatchery burned down last winter, Griffin Andersen was devastated.
The 12-year-old Moody middle school student has been visiting the hatchery since he was seven and said he felt like he had to do something to help with the rebuilding effort.
"It really meant a lot to me," he said in the living room of his family's Belcarra home. "It has done so much for the community. I felt it is our turn to help it back."
Armed with a laptop, a solid grasp of the video editing program iMovie and some photos he and his mom took the day after the fire, he began piecing together a seven-minute clip to honour Mossom.
He narrates overtop of the images, explaining the history of the hatchery and what kind of work went on there before the fire. The moving tribute was played at an assembly at his school that kicked off a fundraising drive for the Mossom Hatchery that recently wrapped up at Moody middle.
His mother, Patty Andersen, a teacher at the school, said more than 750 kids learned about the hatchery through the film in what was one of Moody's more successful fundraising efforts.
The cause was taken on by the school's Me to We Club, which supports various charitable efforts in campaigns throughout the year.
Working with Cobs Bread, volunteers brought in more than $800 selling scones to students and their families at the school, money that will go toward rebuilding the hatchery.
Shelley Egelstad, a humanities teacher at Moody middle and the Me to We Club co-ordinator, said the school generally puts on between eight and 10 fundraisers a year, ranging from raising money for the food bank to buying shoes for children overseas.
But she said it's not often students are able to participate in such a local initiative.
"We were happy to see the kids get involved because it is so local," she said. "We are hoping to have a more personal connection with Mossom."
gmckenna@tricitynews.com
