MOSES LAKE - Moses Lake High School senior Hannah Castro spent her entire Friday night baking cupcakes - 350 cupcakes to be exact.

"I started at about 6 p.m. and I didn't really finish until about 1 a.m.," she said. It's a good thing she didn't have to decorate any of those cupcakes, or she would have been working long past 1 a.m., she said.

Instead, Castro left the decorating to Moses Lake residents. She provided the cupcakes, frosting, sprinkles and other edible decorations for her "Cupcakes for Firefighters" event Saturday and residents brought their creativity and their appetites.

Castro held the event at the Grant County Fire District 5 fire station in Moses Lake. "Cupcakes for Firefighters" was Castro's way of honoring her uncle, a volunteer firefighter who died on the job in 2001.

The event doubled as a fundraiser for District 5, she said.

"I wanted to bring awareness to the community about how much our firefighters do," she said. "Grant County 5 does a lot."

Castro said she wanted to raise about $300 to $500 for District 5.

Although she didn't yet have a tally of how much was raised during Saturday's event, she said she was surprised at the turnout.

"I was nervous, I wasn't sure if anyone would come," Castro said. "But there were people lined up already at 10:30 when I opened."

It made her happy to see how supportive the community was. District 5 officials were also supportive of her event, Castro said.

"Everyone was on board with me during the planning, it was great" she said.

"Cupcakes for Firefighters" is Castro's senior project. Since she also owns her own cupcake business, Hannah Banana's Cupcakes, she decided to use her baking skills to raise money for a good cause.

She chose District 5 as the beneficiaries in memory of her uncle, Jeremy Chandler, Castro said. Chandler was a former volunteer firefighter with District 5, she said.

In June 2001, Chandler, 27, was operating a water tanker during a wildland fire near Moses Lake. He collapsed while unloading a hose, according to a previous Columbia Basin Herald article.

Other firefighters provided CPR, but Chandler didn't make it. Castro was only 6 when her uncle died, she said.

She hopes her event will remind residents how valuable firefighters are to the community.

For more ways to donate to District 5, contact Castro at hannah.castro577@gmail.com.