My friend Steve Jones' house fire recovery fund

Steve W. Jones has been my good friend since Kindergarten. While he and one of his children were asleep the morning of Sunday, October 8th, a fire began in the garage of his Salisbury, NC home. It destroyed his new truck and proceeded to spread to other areas of the home, ruining most all of their belongings. Thankfully, they escaped safely with no known health concerns as of now.

Not including the truck, their losses have been estimated at $25,000 to 30,000 in replacement costs. In addition to day-to-day items, furniture, beds, and home electronics, this figure includes a music studio with approximately $10,000 of pro audio equipment (as a musician, this one gets to me in particular). Like about half of all renters in the US, Steve was not covered for a catastrophic loss of this kind.

Luckily, he has the support of his nearby parents whose home he is currently staying at. Also, he and his children have plenty of clothing that was not damaged in the fire. For the foreseeable future, he'll be unable to receive physical donations like housewares, furniture, etc. due to lack of storage space. In addition, Steve's job as a construction project manager was cut by his employer earlier this year, making this an even harder battle to face.

This fundraiser is meant to help Steve get back on his feet and move forward. It will cover costs like transportation back and forth to job interviews, helping with groceries, incidental expenses, and eventually a rental deposit and some replacement items. If you are able to sacrifice a night out or even a lunch out and contribute what you would have spent, I know it would be appreciated and very meaningful to him and his kids.

Like many of us, especially those with some roots in the mountains, he's very hesitant to accept charity and help from others. It was a bit of a battle to get his permission for me to do this (and he will probably retch when he sees what I've actually posted), so please help me make it worth it for him! And if we should be able to surpass the initial goal, please consider donating anyway to help him get out of the red!

Feel free to call, text, email, or DM me if you want to verify that this is legit. For reference only, the property address of the disaster is 635 East Ridge Rd, Salisbury, NC 28144. Obviously, don't send mail to that address. If you prefer to mail a check instead of donating here, please send it to his parents' home at 15980 Cool Springs Rd., Cleveland, NC 27013.

THANK YOU

Maron El-Khouri

Steve and his kids from a few years ago:

Aftermath of fire:

High School and college days:

Guys trip, pic with his Sis, etc.