Flood Relief for 79-Year-Old Linda

July 21 Update:

We have raised enough to pay for her water heater and when I told her this yesterday, she burst into tears.   She couldn’t believe people would be so generous and she’s beyond grateful!   And so am I.   As I originally mentioned, I am gifting her the washer/dryer and hoping we can still raise a few more dollars for the boiler.  We will finance what is not donated, but we are so grateful for where we are right now.  

If anyone wants to help with the boiler, that would be appreciated very much.  If we don’t get that money, that’s ok.  God has been good to her already!   Thank you all so much!   Love Deb and Linda. 

Hi

I'm Deb Granda and I'm looking for some help for my Dad's girlfriend, Linda Pasko. Linda lives in South Plainfield, NJ, which was right in the center of this horrible rainstorm last night, July 14. South Plainfield received 7 inches of rain in two hours - the second worst in their history. My Dad, unfortunately, lives in Heaven, so I do what I can to look after her and help her where needed financially. She is 79 years old and has no family besides me, and I'm in South Carolina. When Linda got up this morning, she had about six feet of water in her basement, which meant she now has to replace her boiler, water heater, washer, dryer, and a few other small appliances. Fortunately, there was nothing else stored in the basement. She has very few resources, and the savings she has she needs to supplement her small social security for monthly expenses for the remainder of her life. I am putting a significant amount of money towards replacing these items, but I just cannot do it all. She does not have flood insurance, and FEMA already rejected her. The Knights of Columbus have been a huge blessing and have been there already pumping out the basement, so that has been started. She has an awesome plumber who's going over there later to assess and let us know what's needed to start the rebuild.

She typically does pretty well on her own, but this has her completely shaken, so I'm jumping in with both feet. I'll see how the next few days go and then determine if I need to fly up there this weekend. I still have a full-time job. I'm not normally a person who asks for help, but I definitely need help in helping Linda. If you cannot help financially, she definitely needs prayers!

I added some photos here so you can see just how horrible this storm was and how devastated South Plainfield was. She does not have a smart phone (in spite of me wanting to get her one!) so she cannot send me photos of her basement. I appreciate you reading her story, and we both appreciate any help at all. Thank you!!