Ilg Family Fire Totally Burned Out

Late Tuesday night, 3/27/2018, my sister's house caught on fire due to a faulty vape device.  My Grandniece's boyfriend sustained injury to his face, mouth and teeth.  Their cat is hospitalized with smoke inhalation.  The family lost EVERYTHING.  She's lived there for over 42 years and has never turned anyone away.  Her son's and grandchildren's friends have always been welcome and have often stayed there due to family crises that necessitated them being away from their own homes.  She's given freely of her time and energy to her church and community and to her son's and grandchildren's schools.  Like many of us she had family keepsakes stored in the attic (many boxes full of things for family and extended family) and the basement and workshop was similarly full of things like tools, paint, wood, sheet rock plus the laundry was also down there, the usual clutter of a busy family plus items saved for the eldest granddaughter's apartment after she graduates high school this June.


Let me tell you about my sister.  My sister is the widow of a veteran of the Korean War who served on the Coral Sea. Due to his service he developed many medical issues in later life but still worked to provide for his family until about six months before he passed away. She's been surviving on a small pension from the Navy but that doesn't even cover normal bills. Because money has been more than tight for her rather than paying for health/house/car insurance she has been buying food and paying her utilities. She's been struggling with some help from family but for most of us, we have our own bills to meet so money is tight. She's strong, one of the strongest people I know, generous, compassionate, kind, and tough as nails but losing the love of her life 4/5/2010 devastated and nearly destroyed her.  It's taken her years to partially recover.  She has been a stay at home parental figure to her grandchildren for the last almost 18 years, almost since they were born so that their parents could work. 

What is needed:   What is most urgently needed at present is money for food, clothing, transportation, materials to board up the house/clean up the property/dispose of the contents, rent for a place to stay while she deals with this.  The house is a total loss.   She has lost all of her mementos of her life including the home in which she spent 34 years with the love of her life.

Thank you for any help you can give.  Hopefully people will continue to donate so she can rebuild.