Brett Olson Fundraiser in Lafayette Friday

Brett Olson was last seen tubing down the Sacramento River on Sunday.

Friends and family of a missing college man are holding a fundraiser Friday night at a popular Lafayette hangout, hoping to raise money to keep the search for him going.

Bonnie MacNab, whose son grew up with the missing Brett Olson, is helping to organize the event at Casa Gourmet Burrito, 3322 Mt. Diablo Road, at 7 p.m. So far, more than 300 people have signed up to attend.

"We just want to help his family cover the cost of the hotels," MacNab said Friday. "It gets pretty costly and we want to help defray the costs. They've got enough to worry about."

The worry is over Olson, a Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo student who was visiting friends at Chico State University over the Labor Day weekend.

The graduate of Acalanes High School in Lafayette was tubing down the Sacramento River and was last seen about 1 p.m. Sunday when he arrived at Beer Can Beach near Chico for a float down the river.

Olson's parents and friends have handed out hundreds of fliers (pictured) this week in hopes of finding him.

A Facebook page "Let's Bring Brett home", had more than 70,000 members. Brett's father, Michael Olson posted on the page Thursday, "We remain positive and optimistic that we  will find Brett. If anyone saw Brett after 4 p.m. on Sunday, please let us know."

Friends are fanning out on the streets, and on social media, hoping to get the word out and help police.

Twitter has also been abuzz with people tweeting and retweeting the hashtag #FindBrettOlson. Even stars have tweeted, including Miley Cirus, Howard Mandel, and Bay Area Olympians Maggie Steffens and Kerri Walsh.

"I think everybody realizes he's someone's brother and someone's son and someone's best friend," Kaaren Brickman said. "You know it just hits home for a lot of people."

If you're interested in donating to the family, send checks with "deposit only" on the back, made out to any Wells Fargo Bank. Write the check out to the "The Olson Family Fund."
 

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