I have never set up any kind of fundraising account, but after reading this mans story I had to do something. We gave KKTV our number to pass along and Carl called! He is such a sweet soul. Below is the original story from KKTV 11 here in Colorado Springs. ALL donations received will go directly to this man. He is humbled that anyone would even consider helping him (when I asked his permission to create this account, he was happy and said he had never heard of crowd funding). :-) Please show your love. Pray, donate and forward his story.  I will post to this campaign and to FB updates on Carl and the donation. 

From KKTV 11
Dieter (Carl) who lost everything in a fire earlier this week is still counting his blessings.

"I was kind of lucky," Dieter McKnight said. "I happened to have my dirty laundry in my truck so when I wash it, I’ll actually have something to wear.”

He showed 11 News his charred walking stick, one of the only things he could salvage from his camper.

"It will still work...it's just the little things."

McKnight's camper was destroyed in the fire Tuesday morning. It was his home, and he said everything he owned was inside.

"I'm staying in my Suburban, me and Brody [one of his two dogs]. ... The Red Cross gave me a check for $355, which was really a big help because I didn't even have a dollar. I had $5, but it burned up in the trailer."

The most devastating loss: McKnight's 13-year-old black lab, who perished in the fire.

"[Brody's] missing his sissy," McKnight said. "I really blame myself for my dog dying. She was a good dog. Anyone who knows me knows I love my dogs. They’re my life. It’s all I got.

"We were getting ready to leave in the morning," McKnight recalled. "I looked out my rearview mirror [from his Suburban] and that's when I saw smoke on that side of my trailer. I opened the door and my dog Brody here, he got out. ... I went over...and felt for [his other dog] on the couch, 'cause that's her spot.

"All I could do was feel around. I burned my hands, and everything was really hot. It was like a movie, swirls of fire everywhere. I couldn’t believe it. I never saw anything like that in my life. The dog wasn't in there, and the dog was my biggest concern at that time.

"I couldn't feel her and I couldn't breathe, so I had to get out."

Besides his surviving dog and his walking stick, McKnight was able to salvage some of his late mother's clothes. Because he now has nowhere to put them, McKnight is donating them to a homeless shelter.

He's trying to take everything else one day at a time.

"My plan now is to make sure I get this trailer out of this lot and get it cleaned up … A lot of this stuff went all over this place, so I’ve been going around picking it up.

"I’d like to take my trailer and I’ve got a Chevy pickup...it’s a 1990 four-wheel-drive … I’d like to take that and see if someone will give me a fair deal for another trailer to live in.”