Richland rallies behind families of dead Hanford High School students

The Hanford High School community is rallying behind the families of two students who died unexpectedly this week.

Sophomore Zach Schmidt died Jan. 4 at Kadlec Regional Medical Center after falling ill in class. Junior Gavin Slack, 16, died of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound on Jan. 5.

Services for Zach are at 12:30 p.m. Jan. 11 at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1321 Jadwin Ave.

The church is coordinating meals for the Schmidts. Supporters also established a GoFundMe account to help with expenses. As of Thursday evening, it had raised $1,720. Support the memorial fund at bit.ly/ZachSchmidt.

Services for Gavin are Jan. 12 at the Richland Community Center, 500 Amon Park Drive. The time has not been set.

The Hanford Sports Booster Community is recruiting volunteers to help the family with meals. Register at bit.ly/GavinSlack. A GoFundMe account in Gavin’s memory had raised about $14,600. The site is at bit.ly/GavinSlackMemorial.

This story was originally published January 7, 2016 at 7:32 PM with the headline "Richland rallies behind families of dead Hanford High School students."