Bandy's Thomas Fire Relief
Donation protected
Imagine having five minutes to grab a fist full of your mother’s jewlery, your four dogs, and scrambling to your car while you watch flames cascade down the mountains surrounding your home. All-the-while thinking to yourself, evacuating is just a precaution...we won’t lose the house.
The Bandy Family - Tim, Deborah and Caroline moved to Upper Ojai in June of 1999. They built a beautiful home over the years, a home that had walls with bright colors, and couches you could sink into while enjoying a welcoming cup of tea and good company. Family photographs and antique mirrors lined the halls, every display, painting and sculpture showing the life and history of their family. With the risk of sounding cliche, this house was so much more than just a home. It was a place of relaxation, happiness and hope. There were countless celebrations, holiday traditions, weddings, birthday and graduation parties. The Bandy family has always promoted an open door policy, offering their home for all to enjoy.
In the early-most part of the morning of Tuesday, December 5th, those sentimental belongings and family heirlooms burned to the dirt. Beautiful China and sterling silver platters, flatware, and vases that had survived two world wars, gone. Bauer pottery, countless pieces of artwork collected from early life and the colorful garden surrounding the home, gone. Beautiful articles of clothing, jewlery, and shoes collected over the years, gone. Family albums, cherished sentimental items, gone. All gone.
Fortunately, their four lovable dogs, Clyde, Trixie, Wally and Pearl as well as the horse, Honey are safe. However, their beloved cats, Smokey and Charlie were not as fortunate to make it out safely.
I personally met the Bandy Family in 2004, and from that moment, I have felt like their third daughter. Their home became my home in Ojai, as my family moved after my sister and I graduated high school in 2007. Debbie and Tim always welcomed me and my friends when I would come back for a much needed weekend in Ojai. Their generosity has guided so many people in the community, and I can’t imagine not sending the good karma they have accumulated back in their direction. This family has never been known to ask for help, and even through the intense medical hardships this family has been through in the last 5 years, I have never heard them complain. They handle the curveballs of life with dignity and strength.
If the Thomas Fire has taught us anything, it should be how extremely lucky we are to still have our family and friends safe.The Bandy’s have always been the type to give, give, give and never ask or expect a return. This would be a way for them to get back on their feet.
All donations will go directly to the Bandy Family to help cover costs of re-building what they have lost--including but not limited to furniture, clothes, reference books for work.
Thank you so much for your love and support during this difficult time.
The Bandy Family - Tim, Deborah and Caroline moved to Upper Ojai in June of 1999. They built a beautiful home over the years, a home that had walls with bright colors, and couches you could sink into while enjoying a welcoming cup of tea and good company. Family photographs and antique mirrors lined the halls, every display, painting and sculpture showing the life and history of their family. With the risk of sounding cliche, this house was so much more than just a home. It was a place of relaxation, happiness and hope. There were countless celebrations, holiday traditions, weddings, birthday and graduation parties. The Bandy family has always promoted an open door policy, offering their home for all to enjoy.
In the early-most part of the morning of Tuesday, December 5th, those sentimental belongings and family heirlooms burned to the dirt. Beautiful China and sterling silver platters, flatware, and vases that had survived two world wars, gone. Bauer pottery, countless pieces of artwork collected from early life and the colorful garden surrounding the home, gone. Beautiful articles of clothing, jewlery, and shoes collected over the years, gone. Family albums, cherished sentimental items, gone. All gone.
Fortunately, their four lovable dogs, Clyde, Trixie, Wally and Pearl as well as the horse, Honey are safe. However, their beloved cats, Smokey and Charlie were not as fortunate to make it out safely.
I personally met the Bandy Family in 2004, and from that moment, I have felt like their third daughter. Their home became my home in Ojai, as my family moved after my sister and I graduated high school in 2007. Debbie and Tim always welcomed me and my friends when I would come back for a much needed weekend in Ojai. Their generosity has guided so many people in the community, and I can’t imagine not sending the good karma they have accumulated back in their direction. This family has never been known to ask for help, and even through the intense medical hardships this family has been through in the last 5 years, I have never heard them complain. They handle the curveballs of life with dignity and strength.
If the Thomas Fire has taught us anything, it should be how extremely lucky we are to still have our family and friends safe.The Bandy’s have always been the type to give, give, give and never ask or expect a return. This would be a way for them to get back on their feet.
All donations will go directly to the Bandy Family to help cover costs of re-building what they have lost--including but not limited to furniture, clothes, reference books for work.
Thank you so much for your love and support during this difficult time.
Organizer and beneficiary
Blair Johnston
Organizer
Ojai, CA
Caroline Bandy
Beneficiary
