We are organizing this fundraiser to help our dear friend and community anchor, Etse Nyadedzor, his partner and their 15-month-old baby. They have experienced a devastating house fire early Friday morning. You may recognize Etse because he has been a musician, dancer, teacher and entertainer in our community for more than twenty years. He has taught hundreds of our children in private and public programming, taught countless adults, and organized trips back to his home country. Whenever I speak to Etse he is always seeking opportunities to teach and build a community. He has worked years within our school district doing after-school programming and always takes all opportunities to teach and perform. Etse has been instrumental in integrating African culture, music and dance into our CNY community and into our children's lives. Etse's band Akuma Roots as well as his traditional drum and dance ensemble Adanfo preform in our city and region regularly. The impact of his work as an educator through his art is immeasurable. On Friday morning, after leaving his home at 4:30 in the morning, he received a devastating call from his partner that their home was filled with smoke; thankfully, his partner and baby were able to escape from the fire. The fire started in the basement due to an electrical issue, all of his drums(over 80) and other musical equipment that he needs for performances and DJing were located in the basement. Etse lost all of it. Unfortunately, the fire did not stop there, it spread throughout the entire home and everything was engulfed in thick black smoke, there is nothing in the home that is salvagable. The family has lost all of their furniture, clothes, baby needs and personal items. Please as a community lets help them restart their very changed lives. Lets help Etse recoup some of the devistating loss to his livliehood and equipment and ability to continue to teach in the capacity that he as spent so many years building and so that he can continue to provide for his family but also to continue to do what he loves. I cannot personally imagine such a loss and I cannot imagine trying to move forward from such here. Please help Etse and his family get back to baseline.