In the past years, as I made my way down Lasky street; I was always greeted by the friendly smile of Alvin Wright.

Wright is a crossing guard for the school district. Not only that, but he’s a reminder that the world is a good place with caring people. 

Every day Wright would converse with students, staff, and pedestrians in general.

“Every morning when I went to drop my kids off at school, I’d always pass Alvin and he’d wave at me and I’d wave back, and it feels like he made an effort to know every parent that was dropping off their kid,” parent Mark Oller said.

Pure curiosity and consideration are traits Alvin held close to make others feel like they mattered. It felt like he cared enough to remember anything we told him about our classes and would make us feel better about them.

Junior Bella Naufal has known Wright since her freshman year and spoke about him. 

“He has such a pure heart and it’s so great knowing that there are people in the world like him,” Naufal said. 

Wright recently had a stroke at the end of last school year, and finding out this news broke the hearts of many students and faculty at Beverly.

Remi Abrishami, who started a GoFundMe for him, said, “I was shocked… I was supposed to see him on the first day of school. He was supposed to greet me and give me a hug. I was heartbroken…,”

Abrishami knew she had to do something. So, she started the fundraiser to help spread the word about Wright’s condition. 

Within the first few days of it our community raised over 10,000 dollars for him. This speaks volumes as to what the community can do when someone we care about is hurt. Donating even a little bit can help him and his family so much, so please do as we owe it to him for all he’s done for this community.