Hey folks,

I'm Kayla Ferguson (Bow, WA) and I'm raising funds for one of my best friends, Adam Elcan. He and his girlfriend have been through a lot the past year and have found themselves dealing with more than anyone could have bargained for during the historic flooding in Skagit county last week. After living in Bellingham for 14 years, the owner of the home they rented passed away and they found themselves having to find a new place to live with only 3 months notice. They couldn't find an affordable rental situation, so they decided to finance a home in Burlington.

The house that they spent the last year working on was inundated with water last week and they were forced to evacuate their home for two days. They rented a U-Haul and grabbed whatever they could fit, waiting out the flood in Whatcom county. When they returned, they found their foundation completely underwater and their crawl space filled to the brim. They've been doing their best to mitigate the damage, but neither of them was financially prepared for this tragedy.

Adam is a pillar in the Skagit farming community (as seen here) and has been working as a Farm Assistant at the Northwestern Washington Research and Extension Center for four years now. He has a deep interest in apple growing and cider brewing and started his own hobby apple orchard a few years ago. Sadly, his orchard was also compromised during the flooding.

He is one of the hardest working people that I know, but he often works 8-12 hour days and still struggles trying to make ends meet. If you were to meet him, you would see just how kind, generous, and thoughtful he is- the kind of guy willing to give you the shirt off his back if you were in need. We would love to show him some love and support in his time of need.

I know people typically say that anything helps, and truly any donation you can offer to help them to rebuild their home after this loss would be incredibly impactful. All of the money will be going directly to Adam to account for the fees they have incurred throughout the past two weeks (hotel stays, U-haul fees, dump expenses, wet pumping, and dehumidifiers) as well as the supplies he will need for dealing with the water damage going forward. Their flood insurance deductible is $5000, so we are trying to raise as much of that as we can. They will also have to replace everything in their shed since they do not have personal property flood coverage.

Thank you so much to those of you who've already offered to contribute. It will really mean the world to them.