Help the Chapman Family After the Eaton Fire

The Chapman family has lost two homes and two cars, along with just about everything they owned, in the Eaton Fire. Please help them by donating what you can. The Chapmans lived on Concha Street since 1991. Howard and Sharon are retired, having worked as a handyman and Pasadena Unified school teacher, respectively, for many years. Justin served on the Altadena Town Council from 2005-2007, representing Census Tract 4602, and worked at the Altadena Library. Galvin and Kira lost their recently purchased condo. Kelsey's workplace, Steve's Bikes, is also gone. Anything you can give will be an enormous help as they work to get back on their feet. Thank you.

Read Justin's "Eulogy for Altadena" here. Excerpt:

"34 Christmases.

That’s how many we got at

486 East Concha Street, Altadena, California 91001.

Too few,

Considering me and my two siblings were supposed to inherit the house

Some day.

I remember

My 7th birthday in the backyard, where Raphael from Ninja Turtles made an appearance,

and I remember

my infant brother covered in ants in a patio that no longer exists,

and I remember

my Bushhouse, which my dad built cuz we didn’t have a treehouse tree,

and the time capsules I buried

and the Christmas tree ornament stand I manned on the street (in lieu of a lemonade stand)

and learning to swim, saving my infant brother from drowning,

Pool parties,

Countless parties,

It was the party house for many years.

Everyone had a good time there, for sure.

I remember

My brother’s band practices

And my band Whatnot’s practices this past year and a half with Zakk

And “Go Banana” stunts in the early 2000s

And filming movies with RJ and Raf and Jared and Daniel and Colin

And Nintendo Blowouts with Joey and Brian and Damian and Paul and Ian and Nick and Andy

And my dad filming Christmas mornings on his crappy camcorder

Like when I got the Nintendo 64 (unknowingly then the greatest day of my life)

And visits from Santa

And memorizing my lines for the next day’s scenes of “Problem Child 3” or “Jingle All the Way” or “BASEketball” or “Walker, Texas Ranger” or, or, or…

And my surprise 18th birthday party

And sneaking into Farnsworth Park with my friends in the middle of the night

And dressing up for Boy Scouts and karate

And reading Goosebumps books, instilling a life-long love of reading

And my small room before my dad added onto the house

And spending time with my Irish grandma and grandpa (man, I wish they met my daughter)

And preparing for my trips abroad (30+ countries, most of them launched from Concha)

And experimenting with new technologies

Like DVD players and computers

And my own phone line

And watching “The Daily Show” and “King of the Hill” religiously

And

my brother’s wedding in the backyard

For which I served as best man

And teaching my daughter how to swim in the same pool I learned

Now strewn with charred, jagged detritus and unrecognizable memories.

Houses aren’t just homes.

They’re settings and even characters in our lives.

They provide the walls and the doors and the windows and the spaces in which

We reach each other,

And perhaps, sometimes, connect."

This GoFundMe has been created and is being managed by Justin Chapman, of Altadena, California, son to Howard and Sharon. Donated funds will be used by Howard, Sharon, Galvin, Kira, and Kelsey for unexpected and uncovered costs.