Emergency Fund for Al

This month, Bowie's beloved custodian Al Burrows experienced a family tragedy.  His son's family was involved in a house fire that destroyed the home, all belongings, and tragically took the life of his 17-month old granddaughter.  Al is devastated, but is back at Bowie now, choosing to throw himself in to his work as a distraction from the grief.   To make things worse he was also involved in a car accident on the way to work today and his car has significant damage.

Al's family has many financial needs at this time.  There will be cremation expenses for his young granddaughter. The family, which includes three additional children, has temporary housing and basics at this time but as needs come up (additional clothing or household items) they may struggle to find the resources to meet them.   Al's son has just been released from the hospital and the children's maternal grandmother remains hospitalized.

Al is such a treasured part of our school community and many of you would undoubtedly like to help.  We want to respect the privacy of Al and his family while they deal with this tragedy, but he does welcome support and one of the ways we can do that is to raise funds for both funeral expenses and incidental needs that continue to come up as they recover from the house fire, and now costs related to his car accident.  In this way we can show Al how appreciated and cared for he is by our community while allowing him to grieve without adding additional worry due to financial strain.  Final costs aren't known at this time, but campaign goals will be updated in the coming weeks.

Update:  We've increased the goal thanks to the outpouring of support.  We set a conservative goal to start, and that goal was also chosen before Mr. Burrows was in the car accident.  While the initial goal might have covered basic cremation costs, new fundraising amounts can help make a funeral service more of a reality.  The initial goal might have helped Mr. Burrows get to work for a while, but the new goal is reflective of car repairs or a permanent transportation solution for him.  Our community has been so loving and generous so far so and I know exceeding these goals is something we are both capable of and willing to do.