Dear Friends, Family, and Neighbors,

We’re Conor and Rachel McLaughlin, and we're raising short-term funds on behalf of our parents, Ruth and Kevin McLaughlin, and our Uncle and Aunt, Joe and Joanne McLaughlin, and our cousins Kyle, Amelia, and Claire.

Both families suffered the unimaginable loss of their homes and their contents in the Eaton Fire. Homes they had occupied for 39 and 25 years respectively. They are hard-working, good people that like so many of us quietly do good and put others before themselves.

Our Uncle Joe and Aunt Joanne bought their home in the year 2000, and they’ve been a part of this community ever since. They were eagerly anticipating celebrating the 100th-year anniversary of Jane's village with a large block party, but these plans have been tragically disrupted. Living less than 5 minutes driving from us, they were always generous in opening up their home to our extended family on Christmas Eve.

Their daughter Amelia (19), a talented student pursuing a career in computer editing with a focus on Special Effects, Photoshop, Blender, and other software, lost her professional computer setup – essential for her studies and future in this field.

Claire (17), their younger daughter, a student at Pasadena High School, also worked at Fox's, a beloved local restaurant in Altadena, as a waiter, which was also lost in the fires. If you’ve eaten at Fox’s, Claire has probably served you.

And our cousin Kyle (23), a passionate mountain biker who grew up exploring our beautiful back mountains, has seen them vanish for the second time. He helped to rebuild and reopen the Ken Burton trail after the Station Fire of 2009, only to see the trails destroyed once more.

Our parents, Ruth (69) and Kevin (71), have lived in their house for nearly 39 years. It has been the site of countless memories, celebrations, and milestones for ourselves, our friends, our family, and our neighbors. Our parents have loved being a member of the Altadena and Pasadena communities for decades. This hasn't been the best start to their golden years as two recent retirees.

Our mother Ruth (69) has helped countless students through her roles as both a teacher and substitute teacher at John Muir High School, PHS, and the greater PUSD before moving down to East LA to work with disadvantaged high schoolers that were seeking to complete their GED despite extenuating circumstances that meant they couldn't attend traditional schools.

Our father Kevin (71) lived and worked right here in Altadena until he retired. His daily commute up Lake Street to his workplace of 23 years on Altadena Drive was a familiar rhythm of our community life here in Altadena, and according to his son, definitely spent far too much money at Everest and Jack in the Box instead of prioritizing eating more healthy.

We are reaching out to our community for support during this difficult time as our parents, uncle, aunt, and cousins work to rebuild their lives.

We realized that there are immediate needs to meet on their behalf during the road to recovery, and a little cushion enormously helps with managing the stress of the situation. Any contribution, no matter the size, will help them begin the challenging process of recovery.

If we are blessed enough to raise more than needed to address the immediate needs of this recovery process, we will look to either donate any surplus amount to a community fund or other families in Altadena that have lost everything. We want to ensure that this only serves to help meet their immediate needs, and whatever is left will be used to support others struggling in our community. We are so grateful for your compassion and generosity.

God bless you all,

Conor & Rachel

P. S. If you are affected by the Eaton Fire and need any information regarding property clean up, public adjusters, lawyers, or uninsured recovery, we have done a lot of homework and would love to forward along everything we have learned.