Hello, I’m Ben, writing this on behalf of my mom Cheryl. Yesterday, my Mom’s house…Our beloved family home for the past 40 years… had a major catastrophic fire.

We were about to celebrate the holidays and my birthday, as strong winds blew wires and caused an electric fire that spread fast through the house. Thankfully my Mom, sister, and brother-in-law were able to escape as firefighters did their best in freezing snowy conditions. Sadly my Mom’s sweet cat Millie didn’t make it.

The next day, after everything was boarded up, my mom got a call at 2am saying that the fire had reignited.  A further round of damage took hold over most of the house. It’s a lot. It’s bad.  

I believe strongly that everyone deserves at least ONE big George Bailey ‘Its a Wonderful Life’ moment…where (spoiler) someone is at the end of their rope in a jam…and the people in their life come together to pick them up and make them feel less alone and scared…with needed funds. Obviously money is not the major loss here, but it’s a start.

Until all the insurance red tape gets figured out…she will need the help to get back on her feet…all that kind of stuff we’re still figuring out. This as she also tends to the larger medical issues she already has filling her full plate.

My mom is one of the most generous lovely humans you could ever meet. She has been a helper her whole life. From a single parent, to a therapist, to a social worker. She has touched so many lives. She herself has been through so much pain in her life…and often times has had to fight those battles alone. If you can spare anything, please let this be a moment where some of the burden can be lifted for her. 

My mom is also a very self sufficient scrappy person, who can always make the most of a bad situation. She would never ask for any of this…which is exactly why I’ve had to (lovingly) forced it upon her. 

I know this is a hard time of year to ask for anything extra. Thank you if you’re able, anything helps even if it’s just sharing this. We love you.