Help Helena Recover From The Fire
Donation protected
Our neighbor and friend Helena Toretta-Imlah lost her Ninilchik home and ALL belongings in a house fire Saturday afternoon, December 17th. At about 3:30, Helena smelled smoke and opened her back door to a huge flash of flames, singeing her hair and lashes. She thought to grab her purse with keys, got her dog Ola and ran shoeless downstairs to her car. With her cell phone still in the house in the pocket of her parka, and no neighbors around, she was unable to call for the immediate help needed. Sunday morning Ninilchik Emergency Services were still tending to the smoldering remains of her home. She can only guess that the fire started from a light in the chicken coop behind the house. Her sweet Siamese cat is still missing. She hopes Carmen was able to escape and Helena frequents the remains to call for her and neighbors are watching for her return as well.
Having worked as a flight attendant for Alaska Air then Wein Airlines, Helena settled in Anchorage in 1976 with her two sons. More than a decade ago she and her husband Layton came to Ninilchik and began building their beautiful retirement log home on Deep Creek Road. With her husband still working at Fred Meyer in Anchorage, Helena soon chose this community as her full time home. Today she has friends here in Ninilchik who were fellow flight attendants for Wein in those early years.
You may have met Helena in past years as a volunteer behind the desk at the Ninilchik Library, seen her on her daily neighborhood and beach walks with her 9 year old Red Healer, or perhaps at the local Catholic Church where she is active. She spends many of her leisure hours sewing and quilting. Twice weekly she has lunch and attends the sessions of the quilters group at the Ninilchik Senior Center, and has also been a part of numerous quilting retreats around the Kenai Peninsula. This last August her beautiful work awarded her the First Prize Quilt at the Kenai Peninsula Fair. That quilt and many more, her stash of fabric, and all her quilting tools are now gone. Also gone are the china, photos and memorabilia she had brought home after her mother’s death. In this last year she has lost mother, her other four legged furry friend and now her home with all her life’s possessions.
Helena and Ola are staying with a friend for a few days, where she will celebrate her 70th birthday on Christmas day. One of her flight attendant friends from Wein has offered their Ninilchik home to her while they are out of town, giving her time to make the difficult decisions ahead. She had no insurance. It had recently been canceled because of a technicality in her not completely finished home. She will need to start acquiring everything slowly because right now, she has no place to put anything other than necessities.
The outpouring of generosity from the community, many of whom Helena does not even know, is such a comfort in this time of loss. She sends a huge thank you to Ninilchik and friends beyond for your thoughts, prayers and kindness.
Having worked as a flight attendant for Alaska Air then Wein Airlines, Helena settled in Anchorage in 1976 with her two sons. More than a decade ago she and her husband Layton came to Ninilchik and began building their beautiful retirement log home on Deep Creek Road. With her husband still working at Fred Meyer in Anchorage, Helena soon chose this community as her full time home. Today she has friends here in Ninilchik who were fellow flight attendants for Wein in those early years.
You may have met Helena in past years as a volunteer behind the desk at the Ninilchik Library, seen her on her daily neighborhood and beach walks with her 9 year old Red Healer, or perhaps at the local Catholic Church where she is active. She spends many of her leisure hours sewing and quilting. Twice weekly she has lunch and attends the sessions of the quilters group at the Ninilchik Senior Center, and has also been a part of numerous quilting retreats around the Kenai Peninsula. This last August her beautiful work awarded her the First Prize Quilt at the Kenai Peninsula Fair. That quilt and many more, her stash of fabric, and all her quilting tools are now gone. Also gone are the china, photos and memorabilia she had brought home after her mother’s death. In this last year she has lost mother, her other four legged furry friend and now her home with all her life’s possessions.
Helena and Ola are staying with a friend for a few days, where she will celebrate her 70th birthday on Christmas day. One of her flight attendant friends from Wein has offered their Ninilchik home to her while they are out of town, giving her time to make the difficult decisions ahead. She had no insurance. It had recently been canceled because of a technicality in her not completely finished home. She will need to start acquiring everything slowly because right now, she has no place to put anything other than necessities.
The outpouring of generosity from the community, many of whom Helena does not even know, is such a comfort in this time of loss. She sends a huge thank you to Ninilchik and friends beyond for your thoughts, prayers and kindness.
Organizer and beneficiary
Helena Toretta-Imlah
Organizer
Munina, AK
Helena Toretta-Imlah
Beneficiary
