Woman Starts GoFundMe To Help Family Who Lost Everything In Fire

NORTH BABYLON, NY — One woman recently started a fundraiser to help her neighbors who lost their home in a devastating house fire last week. Last Thursday, the blaze broke out at the home on Hubbards Path and Outlook Avenue. The Dennis family, which includes three kids ages 12, 8, and 5, were uninjured. Sadly their rescue dog, Gamble, did not survive. Shortly after, the family's neighbor, Alexxa Hearon decided she wanted to do something to help the family.

"My neighbors are hard-working, friendly, family-oriented and fun to be around," she told Patch. "Their three kids are always outside playing and running around with their rescue pup. They blow bubbles and make friendship bracelets to sell at their lemonade stand in the summers."

Hearon describes the day of the fire as dark and cold due to the heavy rain that day.

"From the first moments of smoke coming from the top bedroom windows, it was only moments until the flames appeared," she said. "I believe there were about 3 to 4 fire departments that came to help and had closed down Hubbards Path and Outlook Ave. Once the fire was put out, and the ok was given for us to back inside, a group of all of us neighbors went to work on trying to sift through the damage and salvage anything we could for them."

However, the fire left the family with nothing. The home suffered from extensive damage not just from the fire but from the rain inside the house as well.

"Everything was black and charred looking and smelled so bad of smoke," Hearon said. "It was a something terrible that I hope I never ever again have to see."

That's why Hearon started the campaign on GoFundMe to help raise $30,000 for the Dennis family.

"I wanted to start this fundraiser after walking through their home and realizing that they had absolutely nothing. Nothing," she said. "My neighbors, my friends, had lost everything they owned, except what they were wearing. And then even what they had on was no good because they were standing outside in the rain the whole time."

The money will go towards helping the family buy food, medicine, winter clothing and shoes, toiletries, school supplies for the kids and any other major necessities the family might need. Hearon said the awful event "broke my heart" and wanted to find a way to help the family and show them there is hope of rebuilding.

"I wanted them to see that people cared for them and want to be a part of helping them get back to normal. This is a good cause for people to donate to because it is helping a family in desperate need of community support. When you see someone, or an entire family struggling, you should do all that you can to help them," she said. "It doesn’t even have to be that much, because when everyone helps out, every little bit adds up and makes a huge difference. Even donating non-monetary items such as clothing, furniture, books/toys, bedding, towels, shoes, etc. This family needs everything."

As of Monday, the page has raised a total of $4,610 to help the family, which Hearon describes as the "one of the most caring families in the community."

"What I want everyone to know about this family is that they are a young, happy, outgoing couple, with young children who worked very hard to build everything from the bottom up," Hearon said. "It was their dream to own a home and provide a safe, healthy environment for their children and they finally did it after years of working toward their goal. Then it was all taken away from them in a matter of moments."

Click here to read more or to donate.

All photos courtesy of Alexxa Hearon