Dear good Samaritans,

I'm hoping to raise funds for a friend and his family who lost their entire ranch and livelihood last night! Vrekić family are refugees from Croatia who were struggling in Bosnia, living in other people's houses from 1992 to 2017. In 2016, they decided to rebuild the ranch on the mountaintop bordering the cities of Teslić, Kotor Varoš, and Travnik that they had inherited from their grandfather. It took about 10 years to build the main log house, barn, stable, and workshop. They had to dig approximately 3 miles to bring the waterline from the well. Three years ago, the municipality of Teslić brought them an electricity line. Father and son worked hard raising cattle and sheep. As a main source of income, they produced a famous cheese called "vlašićki sir," and they produced packaged tinder boxes that they would sell during the autumn/winter season. Hard work seemed to pay off, and they even managed to buy a small wood mill that they used for producing wood planks and 2x4s used for construction. Last night (July 5th), a group of irresponsible drunken hikers decided to camp out at their stable and "accidentally" set the place on fire. Despite all efforts to put out the fire, the entire ranch caught on fire, and the inferno wiped everything out in a matter of two hours. Entire life savings, machines, and belongings perished as if they were never there... Dear people, any contribution will help these poor people. I'm hoping we can raise enough money to help them at least build a small cabin before the winter and hopefully give them a jump start in a new beginning.

Thank you all for your kindness, and God help!

Dragi dobri ljudi,

Nadam se da ću prikupiti sredstva za prijatelja i njegovu porodicu koji su sinoć izgubili cijeli ranč i sredstva za život! To su izbjeglice iz Hrvatske koje su se borile u Bosni, živeći u tuđim kućama od 1992. do 2017. godine. Godine 2016. odlučili su obnoviti ranč na vrhu planine koji graniči sa gradovima Teslić, Kotor Varoš i Travnik koji su naslijedili od djeda. Trebalo je oko 10 godina da se izgradi glavna drvena kuća, štala, ostava i radionica. Morali su iskopati otprilike 3 milje da bi doveli vodenu liniju iz bunara. Prije tri godine opština Teslić im je donijela dalekovod. Otac i sin su naporno radili na uzgoju stoke i ovaca. Kao glavni izvor prihoda proizvodili su poznati sir pod nazivom "vlašićki sir", a proizvodili su i pakirali kutije za potpalu vatre koje su prodavali tijekom jesensko-zimske sezone. Činilo se da se naporan rad isplatio, pa su čak uspjeli kupiti i pilu za drva koji su koristili za proizvodnju drvenih dasaka i 2x4 koji se koriste za izgradnju. Sinoć (5. Jula), grupa neodgovornih pijanih planinara odlučila je kampirati u njihovoj štali i "slučajno" zapaliti mjesto. Uprkos svim naporima da se ugasi vatra, cijeli ranč se zapalio, a pakao je sve izbrisao u roku od dva sata. Čitava životna ušteđevina, mašine i stvari su nestale kao da ih nikada nije bilo... Dragi ljudi, svaki doprinos će pomoći ovim siromašnim ljudima. Nadam se da možemo prikupiti dovoljno novca da im pomognemo da barem izgrade malu kolibu prije zime i nadam se da ćemo im dati skok u novi početak.

Hvala vam svima na ljubaznosti, i Bog vam pomogao