Lou & Chiad Saelee Carr Fire Relief

Friends and Family,

My siblings and I are deeply saddened to share that our parents, Lou and Chiad Saelee, were victims of the Carr Fire that struck Shasta County last week. On Thursday, July 26, 2018, they were evacuated from their home in Keswick, and on Friday morning, we learned their home had burned to the ground. Thank you to those who have asked how you can help and to those who have already donated their time, space, and money so far. We are eternally grateful.

Many of you are familiar with our parent’s backstory, but for those of you who may not be:

Our parents are refugees of the Secret war of Laos and both found refuge at Chiang Kham Refugee Camp in Thailand where they got married and had Kao, Meuy, and Nai. After living in the camp for 10 years, the United Nations granted them relocation to Redding, CA where they later had me (Lai) and Sen. Our parents worked endlessly to raise us, moving from 1-2-3 bedroom apartments for 17 years. In 2009, they started building their Keswick home from the ground up, and in 2010, they were so proud to move into the first home they ever owned.

It breaks our hearts that Carr Fire has stolen a big part of their American Dream overnight. Since they are still figuring out logistics of where they’ll be staying during this tragic time, my siblings and I started this GoFundMe campaign for those who would like to donate, as my parents have very limited storage space in their cars for physical items. We hope that this can help them get started when they are able to settle down.

On behalf of our entire family, we want to thank everyone for their love and support thus far. We feel very blessed to be surrounded by such a supportive and generous community. We also want to send our thoughts and prayers to everyone in Shasta County who have been affected by the Carr Fire, and lastly, we thank all of the emergency responders who are working diligently to protect our safety.

With Love,

Kao, Meuy, Nai, Lai, and Sen